Roosting rod necessary?

[N F C]

I agree with the other greeters...provide a roost.

Thanks for joining us and welcome back to chickens!

 

[Uff Da]

Yes, chickens need a roost.
Do you like your bed?

Not to be argumentative, but worldwide, more people don't sleep in beds than those who do! At least they don't sleep in beds that consist of a mattress, pillows, and blankets. Woven or woolen mats, skins or fleeces, and hammocks are used throughout much of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Anyway, sorry for being pedantic!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Not to be argumentative, but worldwide, more people don't sleep in beds than those who do! At least they don't sleep in beds that consist of a mattress, pillows, and blankets. Woven or woolen mats, skins or fleeces, and hammocks are used throughout much of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Anyway, sorry for being pedantic!

We're softies.

 

[007Sean]

Howdy and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.

Happy to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!

Thanks for joining our community!

 

[ColtHandorf]

I would ask what kind of chickens are you planning on keeping? I only ask because years and years ago I ordered 50 large fowl Cochin chicks. They never roosted. I put them up on the roost poles every night, and within minutes most of them were snuggled up on the floor again. This continued all the way from the grow-out pen to their breeding pens. I offered a low roost that some of them would occasionally rest on, but for the most part, the majority of them preferred to snuggle down into the bedding. It was a fight I was not willing to continue and I let them be. That being said, most of my chickens prefer to roost.

Currently I have one Silver-laced Orpington cockerel who sleeps in the floor as he is not comfortable using the ladder to get up to the roosts. When I make it wider, he will most likely return to roosting up there.

 

[aart]

Absolute? No.
But better for them to not sleep in their poops.

 

[ColtHandorf]

But better for them to not sleep in their poops.

My Cochins did not understand that logic. But they were very clean so there's that. At least Sterling the SLO has the common sense to not sleep under the roost where the rest of the flock is. lol

 

[aart]

My Cochins did not understand that logic. But they were very clean so there's that. At least Sterling the SLO has the common sense to not sleep under the roost where the rest of the flock is. lol

Some of mine sleep right on the poop board(it gets cleaned everyday),
rarely is there an issue, bottoms or tops. <shrugs>

 

[ellend]

True that humans have many sleeping arrangements, but we don't generally poop in our sleep...

 

[ChickenCanoe]

True that humans have many sleeping arrangements, but we don't generally poop in our sleep...

Kind of an unfair comparison.
All animals need to excrete nitrogenous waste. Most mammals urinate liquid waste but birds' urates are solid. Birds have adapted to these solid waste products to conserve water. Birds will therefor defecate more frequently than mammals. Most birds also roost in trees so they don't sleep in their poop.