Roosts for silkies

[erin0415]

I have never seen my 5 month old silkies sit on a roost. The roosts are pretty low, but they don't use them. They just huddle together on the floor. I am planning on making a "chicken condo" for them so I can separate them by colors. Should I even bother putting roosts in?? Let me know your experiences.

 

[cmom]

I don't think Silkies like to roost. I don't have any but my brother did and it seemed they would rather be on the floor.

 

[ozzie]

I don't think Silkies like to roost. I don't have any but my brother did and it seemed they would rather be on the floor.

Wouldn't they be sitting in their poop then? My Australorps when little used to just huddle together in a corner and never roosted but as they got older they started to leap up to the roost. They did seem cleaner when they roosted because they weren't sitting in poop all night.

ozzie​

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I have found that when people put Silkies in with a flock of standard birds they will learn to roost with them and then the habit is stuck. If they never learn to roost then they just huddle on the floor.
I have roosts for mine. The ones I have raised do not roost because they are only in with Silkies but others I have bought usually roost because they came from mixed flocks.
I always supply roosts just in case. They are a real bird whether they want to be or not.

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
Nadine, how high are your roosts? Do you or anyone else know how high a silkie can jump/fly to get up to a roost? From how high is it safe for them to jump?

 

[Guitartists]

My Silkie roos perch on the lower roost which is about 2-3 feet up. My Showgirl will only perch on the lowest roost which is like 6 inches above the bedding. But they do like to roost

 

[needmorechickens!]

My silkies have so much "big hair" they can hardly see to eat! I wouldn't want to get up anywhere high either if I couldn't see.

~Rebecca

 

[erin0415]

Well, mine don't even roost on the lowest roost- and it is about 6 inches off the floor. They don't even like to jump over it. They try to squeeze their bodies under it to get to the other side. They are now mixed with some regular breed chicks and it doesnt seem to help. If I would let them all the standard chicks would sleep on the roosts with the silkies on the floor under them. I have 2 coops in the run right now and all the regular chicks decided they like the silkies house better than their own. So I have to go in and move the silkies to the other coop so they don't get pooped on.

 

[Smoky73]

Some of my silkies have been known to jump over their two foot divider seperating colors, so last year I had to add an extender to prevent that.

I used to have a hatchery silkie years ago who would roost with my Dutch bantams.

The only place I have ever seen the SQ silkies roost are on the edge of the feed bowl LOL. I have learned that when I am bathing or showing and i put them for a short time in a wire bottom cage, they learn to roost really fast, on anything!!

 

[ninny]

Try this: instead of normal roosts use a ladder type. picture a ladder leaning against the wall. Make it a couple of feet wide. That way they can just climb up and down with no jumping.