this is weird

[chickenkid99]

hello, i have 6, 18 week white leghorn pullets. they have a weird behavior at night, what they will do is they will go into the coop when is starts to get dark and they will immediately go into the corner pushing themselves closer and not sleeping. i don't know why they do this, they never did this when they where chicks when i had them in my lighted garage. could it be that they are afraid of the dark and i need to put in a light? the temperature here at night never gets below 60 so i don't think that they are cold. i just want my chickens to feel safe in their house. another question, they will 19 weeks on Saturday, when will they start to lay eggs, i will be building the roosts tomorrow. i will take any tips on building the roosts and getting started on laying eggs. any help is appreciated.

 

[nurse_turtle]

They want a roost to sleep on. The higher the better. Be sure to put your nest boxes lower than the roosts or else they'll sleep in the nest boxes.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

You don't mention what sort of roost set-up you have. Leghorns like a high one, but for the first few nights you may want to give them something to work their way up (as in a ladder) so that they get the idea that the roost is a good place to sleep.