Roosting question

[R Drisaldi]

Good afternoon!
My 6 week olds are beginning to get the hang of going to their coop at night. My question now is why would they not roost on the roosting bars they have? They all huddle in a corner and sleep. I’ve had a dim nightlight in their coop for the “go to bed” conditioning. Now, just wondering why they don’t roost. I’m attaching a pic for reference. As always, thanks for the suggestions. This forum is awesome.

 

[CCsGarden]

They are to young still (maybe). Mine would always sleep in a corner on the floor until they were about 13 weeks old.

 

[azygous]

They sleep in a pile because neither a broody hen nor their human has shown them how roosting is done.

Stick them onto the perch for a couple of nights in a row and see how quickly they latch onto the concept of roosting.

When I brood chicks in my run, I move them into the coop at five weeks and immediately teach them to roost. They pick it up in no more than three nights.

If you haven't tamed your chicks to enjoy being handled, teaching them to roost will be much more difficult, however.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Good afternoon!
My 6 week olds are beginning to get the hang of going to their coop at night. My question now is why would they not roost on the roosting bars they have? They all huddle in a corner and sleep. I’ve had a dim nightlight in their coop for the “go to bed” conditioning. Now, just wondering why they don’t roost. I’m attaching a pic for reference. As always, thanks for the suggestions. This forum is awesome.

They'll practice perching in the daytime first and then graduate to roosting at night.. give it time.

All flocks will vary some.

 

[rosemarythyme]

They sleep in a pile because neither a broody hen nor their human has shown them how roosting is done.

x2. I expect chicks to roost because I expect them to follow the adults' example. If you don't have adults to show them, then they don't have the same inclination to go up. They can roost, but they don't have the same instinct for roosting as other things.

If you want you can manually put them on the roost once it's dark - they may jump off the first few nights but and if you keep with it for a few days they'll likely pick it up from there.

 

[azygous]

I have a few little tricks to calm my chicks when they're put onto the perch. I speak softly and I stroke their heads, holding my hand lightly on the backs of their necks which is soothing and gets them into a relaxed mood to sleep. I also scrunch them tightly together on the perch which gives them a sense of comfort and safety. It's never been difficult to teach them to roost within just a couple nights.

Many chicken people say they don't care if their chicks roost, but I suspect it's mainly that they don't realize how easy it is to teach them.

 

[R Drisaldi]

x2. I expect chicks to roost because I expect them to follow the adults' example. If you don't have adults to show them, then they don't have the same inclination to go up. They can roost, but they don't have the same instinct for roosting as other things.

If you want you can manually put them on the roost once it's dark - they may jump off the first few nights but and if you keep with it for a few days they'll likely pick it up from there.

Understand the logic. I’ll give it a try. But, another related question, their coop door is inside their run. I still have to put most of them in at dark. With this suggested strategy, would it be counterproductive to put them up and on their roosting bar through the main door of my coop? Or would it be better to put them up through THEIR door, then reach in the main door to stick them on the roosting bars? Hopefully I didn’t confuse the heck out if you.

 

[CCsGarden]

Understand the logic. I’ll give it a try. But, another related question, their coop door is inside their run. I still have to put most of them in at dark. With this suggested strategy, would it be counterproductive to put them up and on their roosting bar through the main door of my coop? Or would it be better to put them up through THEIR door, then reach in the main door to stick them on the roosting bars? Hopefully I didn’t confuse the heck out if you.

I would say what ever is easier for you.

 

[azygous]

When it comes time for my chicks to move into their coop, I get inside and coax them in so they learn how to go inside at night. Before that, I had taught them to come to me whenever I called them. Baby chicks and adult chickens learn very quickly and are easily trained.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Many chicken people say they don't care if their chicks roost, but I suspect it's mainly that they don't realize how easy it is to teach them.

I'm one of those people. It's not because I don't know how easy it is, it's because I leave it up to them. I try to keep my chickens safe but I don't try to micromanage them. I let them decide a lot of things.

I've had a broody hen take her chicks to the roost at 2 weeks of age. I've had some that weaned their chicks before she taught them to roost. Most of my broodies seem to take their chicks to the roost at around 4 to 5 weeks of age. As long as the broody is sleeping with them they are usually fine. But when she weans them the other adult chickens run the chicks to a back corner of the roosts or off of the roosts altogether. Each brood and each broody is different.

For my brooder raised chicks if I put them in my grow-out coop they tend to start roosting on their own around 5 to 6 weeks. There are no adults to intimidate them. I've had some start around 3 weeks but that's rare. I've had some wait until 8 weeks. Each brood is different. Until they roost they sleep in a group on the coop floor.

For my brooder raised chicks in the main coop with the adults, they seldom start roosting on the main roosts with the adults until they start to lay. Until then they sleep somewhere else. Initially this is on the floor. At some point they move to someplace higher. That used to be my nests (part of the time) so I put a juvenile roost lower than the main roosts, horizontally separated a few feet from the main roosts, and higher than my nests. That gives the chicks a place to go where they are safe from my adults and is not my nests.