starting to get really ticked off....

[lollipopguild]

most people that raise birds for meat know not to roost them. It bends their breastbone and flattens and deforms the breastmeat

I raise Cornish x, too. I have about a 5% mortality rate up until butcher.

 

[Free Feather]

So I guess now wait to see if any die overnight after these modifications.

 

[lollipopguild]

They are about the width of a 2x4. Gonna check back later after they are, hopefully, roosting.

 

[islandgirl82]

They are about the width of a 2x4. Gonna check back later after they are, hopefully, roosting.

I truly hope this helps reduce the huddling. Please keep us posted.

 

[aart]

Quote: Me too....might want to close up some of those gaps too...where are you located?

 

[lollipopguild]

Me too....might want to close up some of those gaps too...where are you located?

Indiana. I don't know why the gaps look so big in pics. There's no draft.

 

[lollipopguild]

Still all huddled in the corner. Tried putting them on the roost and they kept jumping down. 15 minutes later and they are in a different corner. I did my best to round out the corner.

 

[AussieChics]

Could they be huddled cos they are cold?

 

[islandgirl82]

Still all huddled in the corner. Tried putting them on the roost and they kept jumping down. 15 minutes later and they are in a different corner. I did my best to round out the corner.

Can you close the wired door to give them their own area of the coop so the older birds can't get to them? And if you have a couple of buckets, turn them over and put a 2x4 across them for a roost...it might take them a few days but if you continue to give them their own space, they'll have the opportunity to gain a little confidence and help them relax. And if you can't close the door, do you have a pet crate or two that you could put in there and close a couple up in each so there's less of a chance of anyone getting squashed if they're in smaller groups?

Chickens can be very subtle in their communications with each other and things you wouldn't give a second thought about can be major for them. What we might see as one bird just looking at another, to them is threatening and to a chick, even more so.

 

[lollipopguild]

Could they be huddled cos they are cold?

They are fully feathered and had no problem laying in the snow. Lol. It could be. Our temperatures are 20 below the average for this time of year. I'd run a heat lamp out there, but I have them on a hundred meaties I just got in over the weekend.