roosting(not on roost)

[cw]

we have 3 month old barred rocks white rocks and french guineas,
they are in there coop and happy, but they will not use there roost they will spend the night in there nesting boxes
dont matter if the temps are warm or cold they huddle up in there nesting boxes
i dont believe there being pestered by predetors we aint lost one yet

 

[montcapu]

all mine tend to do the same thing, it is a hoot to go out there right after dusk and see them scrambling to get as close as they can to one another and to see how many at fitting into one nest box, crazy, but that is the way they like it.

 

[cw]

mine do the exact same thing.
i wonder if thell grow out of it?

 

[bethandjoeync]

when we got our girls they didn't use a roost at all (not sure if they knew what it was lol) and they slept on the shelves we still had in the coop (that once was a storage shed), but we still lopped off a nice thick branch to put in there as a stable roost, just in case they had the inclination to perch there. our top hen still sleeps on a shelf in the corner (I guess she feels safest there because she has laid 2 eggs there over the past 2 weeks).

anyways, we had to pick them up repeatedly and put them on the roost and keep them there for a few minutes, so they would know it was safe and okay to be in that spot. once they figured that out, they use it regularly. I would say put them on the roost a few times (possibly per day) and pet them (if you do that) and show them it's safe and okay to stay there. every morning when I go to turn their light on 3 of my girls on on the roost looking at me as I come in, and my 4th girl is in her corner. hope that helped any

 

[Mahonri]

Quote:
I had to put boards over my nesting boxes so they couldn't get in them.

After that they used the roosts.

When I added juvies, they started using the nest boxes... it took me every night for about two weeks going in before the light shut off at 8 and putting the juvies on the roosts. Now they just get up there. No poop in the next boxes now.

 

[cw]

they use the roost in the daytime and weve put them there
they just end up in there nesting boxes

 

[bethandjoeync]

then I guess I would take the nest boxes out of the options of places to sleep during the night, so they get the idea

maybe that will help

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Yup.