Roosting too young??

[Mrs. K]

On another thread, a poster indicated that one should not encourage roosting too young, that is can cause damage to the keel bone.

Roosting too young damages something in their chests or hurts some type of bone growth or the keel bone, which is something a judge will be able to tell when examining the bird.

I have never heard this, and have always had broody hens get my chicks to roost fairly quickly, usually by 3-4 weeks, although it varies. I have always thought this was a good thing as it gets them up off the floor, and lets their poop fall away from them, keeping them cleaner, and they fit into the flock earlier. I do have multiple roosts, at different widths to allow for chicken choice.

So this surprised me, I had never heard of this information before. Anyone else, do you manipulate your brooding hen to keep them on the ground longer? If so how long. The original poster has theirs still on the ground at 8 weeks.

Mrs K

 

[Pork Pie]

I never interfered with what a mother hen did with her chicks in terms of roosting. I always preferred to facilitate their natural behaviour as opposed to trying to alter behaviour to suit me.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

This does not make sense to me as the birds do not rest on their keel bones when roosting but on the soft part of their abdomen. If it was painful, the chicks wouldn't do it. Also, agree with @Pork Pie above. Nature knows best.

 

[MommyGirl]

I also let mine roost whenever hen thinks it’s time. I feel she knows better than me

 

[Cynthia12]

Even with the chicks I hatched, they would start roosting on whatever was higher..food dish, water dish, another chick.... Comes natural.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Although most of the chicks I've brooded without a hen, their natural instinct has them looking for higher points to roost by week 2. If I dont actually provide a chick roost, they'll basically start climbing the walls. I would not deny them a place to get off the floor and in 20years I've never had leg, mobility issues with any chick or adult. So, I don't feel concerned about this.....

 

[Cynthia12]

Another note after reading about the keel bone. Sounds like it's actually harder on an adult chicken. It can cause health issues on an adult. You can look it up. Describes how to prevent keel bone damage.
I'm learning about chickens after all these years. I don't have them now. Makes me wonder if it was maybe something I missed on on a chicken.
I think it's good you brought this subject up.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Another note after reading about the keel bone. Sounds like it's actually harder on an adult chicken. It can cause health issues on an adult. You can look it up. Describes how to prevent keel bone damage.
I'm learning about chickens after all these years. I don't have them now. Makes me wonder if it was maybe something I missed on on a chicken.
I think it's good you brought this subject up.

Roosting can cause keel damage on an adult chicken, Cynthia?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Mine are about 2 weeks and have been roosting a couple nights now with mama. As soon as they have enough flight feathers to get lift off, they all start roosting in my flock. I feel like if it caused damage, they wouldn't do it unless there was no other option since surely it would be uncomfortable to them?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've read a lot of different things on this forum about how we should micromanage chickens to protect them from themselves or other threats. How to house them, feed them, keep them warm, cool, or dry, how to integrate them, some really weird additives to feed them, just all kinds of ways to micromanage them. I understand that we are providing their feed and restricting them by housing them in brooders, coops, and runs so it is not like they are being raised like they evolved thousands of years ago. We do have a responsibility to provide them basic necessities. I'm amazed at several different things that somebody considers where we are abusing our chickens when the vast majority of us don't do it that way and our chickens are perfectly fine. @Mrs. K I'll ignore this like I do almost all of the other things that I have to do or I'm abusing my chickens after giving it considered thought.