Roosting for the night

[ncgrad00]

When should chicks start roosting for the night. Mine have been in the big coop for a month now and still sleep on the floor of it. They are able to get up on the roosts but dont stay long. I have two full size hens and only one of them sleeps on the roost. I am just wondering if she is not allowing any of the rest of the chickens to get on the roosts. Let me know what you think.

 

[midget_farms]

I put mine out in the coop at about 3 months old. They didn't roost until they were around 5 month old.

 

[gsteffens]

I put my gals out in their coop at 6 weeks as they were getting too big to keep in the basement brooder box. I didn't realize they were going to grow so fast! Remarkably, they all slept on the roost the first night! It was cute to see them all lined up on the very top roost. Now, they are 11 weeks old, much bigger and still all try to sleep together on the same roost. Of my 8(4 RIR and 4 White Rocks), one turned out to be a rooster. Surprise! So, we named him "Butch". So far they are all getting along fine. They are so much fun to watch.

 

[ncgrad00]

I looked out again last night and there was only one on the roost. Dont know if setting the rest of them on the roost might help or maybe leaving the one who is always on the roost outside for one night. Any suggestions.

 

[cracked_egg]

My 5 dominiques are about 6 weeks old (I think). They have all been trying to roost on a 5 gallon bucket feeder I made. Anyway, last night I went out late to add some 2 week old dominiques to the 6 and 4 week olds.

While they were half asleep I stuck them on the roost. I have done this before but they were always back on the bucket by morning.... Well this morning they were still on the roost. I think they might be getting the idea!

 

[cracked_egg]

(Just wanted to add that I don't put them up there every night or anything! I put them on the roost here and there and figure when they're ready they'll stay on it. They were on it a lot during the day, but always cose to sleep on the flat. I think it is a balance thing. As they age I'm sure they're stronger and more able to balance while they sleep.)

 

[fadmmoff]

Ours are a little over a week old and they are roosting here and there. NOT a full sized roost mind you....it is just a narrow little one, sized for their feet about 2-3 inches of the brooder floor. Only a couple of them have tried to sleep on it, sometimes successful, sometimes not We had small sticks in before that for them to practice on, just laying on the bedding.

 

[Mak]

I'd say let them go. If one has started roosting, the others will most likely follow soon enough. Mine had two roosts (baby sized) in their brooder for weeks and were regularly using them for sleeping. Still, when I put them into the coop, they slept huddled together on the floor for a while. One night, they just started using the ladder to climb up to the roosts, and now, two or three will even jump to the high ceioing rafters to roost! They'll use the roosts when they are ready.

 

[SB Austex]

I moved 8 chicks into the new coop/run with no adults. Two of them were 8 weeks old and 6 of them were 6 weeks old.

The little peeps slept in their brooder box the first 2-3 nights (I put the brooder inside the coop and put them 'to bed' each night.) The two older ones went immediately to the top of the nest boxes not the high roost or the low 'baby' roost I had made.

By the third night, I blocked the top of the nest boxes and took the brooder box out. All of the peeps had their choice all of them went up to the top roost. One or two got jostled off during the night, but within a day or two all were successfully roosting every night.

ETA: The roosts are 2 x 4's with the 4" surface up.

 

[Cattitude]

We put roosts in the brooder hutch, on half-cinder blocks. By the time they are a couple weeks old, they're able to roost on the 2x2s there. The day they hatch, they'll jump thru the cinder blocks whilst they are running here and there.