Roosts

[NixNoodleNumbat]

Whats the difference between having a roost and letting the chooks sleep on the floor? Also, whats so bad about letting them sleep in the nesting box? I don't do it, I'm just wondering.

 

[Judy]

Chickens naturally roost, so we assume they prefer it. Sleeping in nest boxes = poopy eggs.

 

[catdaddy66]

most birds prefer to be up from the ground when sleeping for safety. Technically they don't "have" to, but it makes them happier, and happy birds are healthy birds. Certain types like fast growing meat varieties (i.e. cornish) are too heavy to roost and SHOULD sleep on the floor. Also because you only need 1 nestbox per 3-4 hens, it's like musical chairs at bedtime. They tend to poop the most at night while roosting, so the nests are always poop filled if used to sleep in. A nasty cleaning job, for sure!

 

[dmiller415]

I have 3 barred rocks and a coop with 3 separate nesting boxes and a roosting perch. I find that my 3 girls sleep together in the last nesting box and use the other 2 boxes to lay their eggs. I have never seen my girls use the roosting perch. They are out all day free-ranging and I leave the door to the coop open so they can come back to lay their eggs, which they usually do about 90% of the time. I do clean out the coop everyday. I put on gloves, use an old coffee container and pick up the poop, putting it in the container then putting that into the compost pile. I also have 3 sexlink pullets that have their own coop. When they are outside of their coop, they make their way to the other girls coop and I find them perched on their roosting perch. Go figure

 

[aggiemae]

Mine slept in a pile in the brooder even after I added a roost but now prefer roosting. They leave the coop as soon as they get off the roost to go out into the yard and don't go back in until dusk except to lay. Funny thing, though we have two boxes three of them insist on using the same box and, even if the other box is unoccupied, they will sit on the roost (complaining) until it's their turn

The reason they stopped sleeping on the floor might be because I blocked the nest boxes until they started laying and I don't use deep litter, just spread sand on the coop floor which I clean up with a cat litter scoop (later in the morning when I am actually awake).

To answer you question, other that sleeping in each others poop, which probably bother people more than it bothers chickens, can't see any reason that they shouldn't sleep on the floor in a secure coop, it's just that most chickens prefer to roost.

 

[BeulahBreezes]

I don't let my 4 chickens sleep in the eggbox either.......only one used to insist on doing so, It was a battle of wills for several evenings......I would wait outside the egg box and she would sneak into it......I would open the box and gently encourage her to the roost, (usually 3 or 4 times)...........she now sleeps on a roost everynight....no problem! I don't wash the bloom of their eggs, so I don't want them to get poop on the eggs as they lay them in the nest! ~Beulah

 

[aggiemae]

Battle of wills....We have a hen, hatched this past spring, that laid everyone of her eggs on a patio chairs. I can't even count how many times I walked her down the hill to the coop over the summer.

I bought in the cushions a week ago and she kept laying there even though the egg fell through the webbing. Since it was raining anyway yesterday I kept them in the run for the fist time in months and she clucked her hear off for FIVE HOURS before finally going into the next box for the first time and again this morning.

 

[theadrick33]

I have 3 hens, one rooster, all a little over 7 months old. The bottom hen (who just happens to be our favorite) sleeps on the floor of the coop, either under the others or right next to them. There is plenty of space on the roosts. There have been a few nights when I have gone out to check and see where she is sleeping, and the other 2 hens will be pecking at her, relentlessly at times. I don't really want her to sleep on the floor, I'm sure sleeping in the poop is no good for her. But my main concern is the bullying at bedtime. Any ideas of how to help her out?