transitioning silkies to fall/winter accomodations

[Sandrachx]

i am a first time silkie owner and wonder about sleeping habits of older silkies. my silkies are now 4 months old. they have been in their own mini-coop for almost 2 months while mingling with the other assorted adults during the day. as the cooler weather comes, i am preparing to winterize the main coop and will need to close up the mini-coop until next spring. this means transitioning the youngsters to the main coop for the colder weather:
- do adult silkies still sleep on top of each other, in a pile?
- do silkies roost like the bantam cochins?
- if i prepare a deep littler area in a corner, would that be sufficient for sleeping?
- how do other silkie owners manage nesting boxes for silkies? my current boxes are 3.5 feet from floor.

thanks for help!

 

[dixie chicken]

My silkes have the ability to sleep on the floor of their house or in a roost about 1 ft off the ground. I find them sleeping in both areas and neither one on a consistent basis. In the winter, they just huddle up together wherever the group settles - on the floor or on the roost. We do not have terrible winters here. All of my silkies lay in a nest in the corner on the floor. Silkies can only fly up a few feet at the most and it is a half hearted non specific flight. They will walk up ramps if you provide one and they are shown what is at the top of the ramp. I had my silkies in a coop where the house was a good 4' off the ground and we put a 2x4 board covered with a small hole wire on top as a ramp going up to the coop. The wire is there so they could get foot traction. I had to go out and put them up in their coop a few nights until they figured it out. Hope this helps.

 

[Sandrachx]

what do you do about nesting boxes? my husband also suggested putting in a small ledge with a ramp for roosting. we do have a moveable roosting pole mounted on small 2x4 blocks for the silkies; so far it is just a piece of exercise equipment for the silkie kids!

 

[vfem]

My nesting boxes are floor level right now. I have to winterize their coop very soon. Again, we have mild winters here.

As for roosts, mine don't bother.... they like to nest up in some straw in the corner.

 

[dixie chicken]

Silkies will lay in the corner on the litter. They are not picky. I have a couple platic milk crates on the floor with straw in them. I have some hens that lay in the crate and some that nestled out their own nest somewhere else in the coop.