KarynVA
Crowing
I have 3 red sex-links that are 20-21 weeks old. They have reliably spent the night on their roost ever since they moved to the coop. The roost is higher than the nest boxes and is a 2X4 with wide side up and they have had no trouble getting up and down from it. Last night was mild in temperature, and as I went out to close up the coop for the night, I noticed 2 of the 3 hens cuddled together inside one of the three nest boxes. The other hen was on the roost as usual.
I decided to let them be for a short while. I checked on them before I went to bed (about 2 hours later), and they were both still in there. I don't want them to get in a habit of sleeping in there, so I nudged them out of the box and placed them on the roost. I went back one more time a while later and they were still on the roost.
So, maybe problem solved? I wonder what prompted this change in behavior? I noticed their roosting pattern was different than usual; normally, they roost all on one end of the roost, touching each other. But last night they were spread out all across the width of perch. Maybe they had a spat and weren't speaking to each other?
I decided to let them be for a short while. I checked on them before I went to bed (about 2 hours later), and they were both still in there. I don't want them to get in a habit of sleeping in there, so I nudged them out of the box and placed them on the roost. I went back one more time a while later and they were still on the roost.
So, maybe problem solved? I wonder what prompted this change in behavior? I noticed their roosting pattern was different than usual; normally, they roost all on one end of the roost, touching each other. But last night they were spread out all across the width of perch. Maybe they had a spat and weren't speaking to each other?
