Roosting - an acquired skill?

[mightybeckster]

First time chicken keeper here. I have a little flock of 4 hens (Lohmanns) that I bought from a chicken farm when they were 20 weeks old. They've been with us for just over 3 weeks now. Is it possible that they don't know how to roost or that veggie scraps are food? Every morning I toss whatever veggie/fruit scraps we have (that are Google-approved for chickens) into their run and it seems like the scraps are all still there at the end of the day. Is it also possible that they don't know how to roost? They all seem to cram into one little corner of their nesting box and sleep in a pile even though I have a roosting bar (2x4) available for them in their coop with a ladder. (I'll be covering up the insulation in the next couple of weeks.) The main inside of the coop is 4 feet by 4 feet. I have various thick branches in their run available to them (one as a swing that is a only about 4 inches off the ground and the others mounted as perches) but they NEVER hop/sit on them. I plan on installing a few more perches for them in their run (in fat branch form and in 2x4 form). Am I missing something here? Do I need to train them to use these things?? I'm so baffled!

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Roosting is an acquired skill a good portion of the time. Few breeds will naturally roost without training. Your chickens probably slept on the ground and never ate scraps at their previous residence, so you'll have to teach them. I would place them on the roosting area at dusk until they begin doing it naturally

Mother hens also pick up and drop food to teach their young that something is edible. You could mimic this with your hand while they're hungry and they might figure it out

 

[Mrs. K]

I think that if you pulled your roost in the run away from the side a bit more, that might help.

If you can reach them, put them on the roost at night, from the pile. Thing is, they will stay cleaner on the roost. All night long they poop, and it can fall away from them.

I am pretty sure they will eventually figure it out, but I would have thought they would have by 20 weeks. Same thing with the vegetable scraps - try mixing them with scratch.

Mrs K

 

[Penpal]

try a better ramp up to the roost. Add a couple of more rungs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Roosting is an instinctive behavior for the vast majority of chicks. My chicks hatched in an incubator and shipped from a hatchery instinctively roost when they are ready with no adults around and no teaching. With most of mine that is around 10 to 12 weeks of age but I've had some start as young as 5 weeks and some wait a lot longer but typically around 10 to 12 weeks. By roosting I mean sleeping on them overnight. They will often play by perching on the roosts during the day. At the hatchery, those eggs were probably laid by hens that never roosted in their life yet their chick instinctively roost.

I've had broody hens take their chicks to the roost at two weeks of age. The chicks flew up there when the broody told them to. Yes they flew at 2 weeks but I have chicks like Australorp, Sussex, and Delaware, not Silkies, Frizzles, and other breeds that cannot fly. I've also had broody hens that wean their chicks before they take them to the roost. These are example of why I say that you do not get guarantees with living animals. Anything can happen.

Is it possible that they don't know how to roost or that veggie scraps are food?

My guess is that they were raised without an opportunity to roost so they have been trained to not roost. I'd go out at dark after it is too dark for them to see much and move them to the roost. Be consistent, do that every night and they should soon get the message.

Your coop is 4 feet wide so that roost is plenty long enough. How far is it off of the back wall. I give mine a minimum of 12" so they have plenty of room to face either way, toward the wall or away from it. It looks like it is about two feet off of the coop floor. It is higher than the nests so it is high enough. Mine could pretty much jump that high with minimal wing flapping if they wanted to. Your ladder will not hurt anything so leave it. The reason to train them is so they want to get up there. If they want to, they will get up there.

On the food scraps, they have never learned to eat them. That is not unusual when raised in a coop and never being able to forage. My suggestion is to continue to offer them (but do not leave them out there overnight. They could attract predators and especially rodents.)

I'll tell a story to help illustrate that. One time I gathered a yogurt cup of corn ear worms when preparing to can corn from my garden. I dumped those worms in a pile near about fifteen 10-week-old chicks. Step by step, inch by inch, the chicks slowly approached that pile. A worm wiggled! Run away! Run away! But not very far. Step by step, inch by inch, the chicks slowly approached that pile again. A worm wiggled! Run away! Run away! This repeated 4 or 5 times before one brave cockerel got close enough to grab a worm. That pile was gone within 30 seconds, including some playing keep-away and chasing.

All it will take is one of your pullets trying a bite, then they will all enjoy it. But it may take a while before one takes that first bite. Be patient and they will get there.