Teaching a hen to roost

[xjonesy]

My hens are 20 weeks old -- I have a good 4-foot roosting stick in the coop and see them roost about half the time. The other half the time, they like to snuggle up together and sleep in the nesting box, which makes for a mess in there. I've closed off the nesting box to get them to force them to roost, but then they curl up together in a corner of the coop.

I took my kids to a tourist type farm here local over the weekend and noticed the same type/shape roosting stick in their big chicken coop.

Any ideas? Now that the hens are laying, I need to open up the nesting box to teach them to lay eggs there.

 

[ging3rhoffman]

I would go in just before dark and put each of them on the roost. Mine figured it out in 2 nights. They cant see in the dark and they will huddle closely together on the roost. Go in each evening and put them on it. Dont open the nest back up until the girls are around 18 weeks old. Hope it works for you, it did for me.

 

[xjonesy]

I'll have to give it a try. My hens are so flighty -- I have a hard time catching them sometimes. I'm afraid if I put them on the roost they'll just jump off and run away. I probably haven't spent as much time holding them as I should have.

Thanks for the idea, I'll give it a try.

 

[MIKE555444]

I agree with the above BUT I also found it helpful to close them up in the coop for a few days and they seem to get used to the roost that way

 

[cmom]

How big is your roosts. I use a 2x4 with the 4" side up. At one time I had a 1x2 and they didn't use it like they do the 2x4. I closed them up in the coop for a few days also and make sure the roosts are higher than the nest boxes so they don't sleep and poop in the nest boxes. I put up roosts for the chicks and gradually make the roosts high as they grow.