Teaching pullets to roost

[sneedleali]

We have 4 young pullets that are 11 and 12 weeks old. They are great at putting themselves in the coop at night. After the first week in the coop out from the brooder all we've had to do is lock them up at night. But, they still don't sleep on their roost. They sleep in a pile in the corner like they did as babies. They will relax in the roost in the run during the day and had a roost in the brooder, so it's not a strange concept. I think they've been outside for about 5 weeks. Do I need to teach them to roost or will they figure it out eventually, even though they seem a bit old to have not figured it out yet?

 

[CapricornFarm]

Make it easy for them, put perches low so they can work their way up to the higher ones. I lost some chickens that liked to pile up in the corner of their run instead of going in the coop.

 

[sneedleali]

It is low. Without any bedding it's no more than 12" off the ground. It's that low enough?

 

[JaeG]

You can go down on dark and place them onto the roosts. It will only take a few days or so for them to get the message that that's where they are supposed to sleep, and they'll start getting up there themselves. If they'd been brought up by a mother she would've shown them where to sleep, so now you have to take on that roll.