What age should I put roosts in the brooder?

[Willow's Meadow]

My chicks are a week old and they jump up on the side of the brooder(which is a kiddie swimming pool) and sit there when they fencing around the brooder is off, which is only when I'm around. Should I put some roost in? If I do, how high should they be and what should they be made out of? What age did you give your chicks roosts?

 

[dichotomymom]

They don't get roosts here until they went into the regular coop and seem to sleep crowded together very peacefully.

 

[cerridwenn]

i didn't worry about roosts in the brooding area. but as soon as i moved them into the coop, they had roosts from the start, and they loved them.

 

[damselfish]

We put roosts in right away in the brooder. Nothing fancy, just knocked together from scrap wood or branches. Maybe six inches high? They seemed to get a kick out of climbing up on them, knocking each other off, etc.

It's fine whether you do, or whether you don't.

But if you don't put them in, you won't get to see a tiny chick fall asleep on a roost and watch its head fall further and further forward until you just can't figure out why the chick doesn't tumble right off into the shavings.

Have fun!

 

[Dorte]

Quote:

I did have roosts in my brooder, but I unfortunately still missed out on this sight.

 

[sonjab314]

Don't laugh at me but my brooder is a large parrot cage (and yes it stays warm enough). I used to raise parrots and have a lot of excess supplies, one being a small perch that is about 3" off the ground. The babies love hanging out on it and when the get their wing feathers, they fly up to the main perch and enjoy it a lot. They even fall asleep up there and their heads hang down way low. It's a cute pic.

 

[city kid farm]

I had short roosts in the brooder early and they loved them! It was a lot of fun watching them figure out how to sit on them and which birds liked them more than others. Start low and work upwards as they get comfortable/confident.

 

[chickp]

I just put one in today because I moved the girls up to a big box before they graduate to the coop. I did it because of this.....

That's Padme roosting for the first time, and I got it on film.

So this is their new digs for a few weeks, and I just put a stick in (courtesy of my four year old!)

They seem to like it....after a little while they were trying to fly up and Padme roosted again. They will be two weeks old tomorrow.

 

[PunkinPeep]

You probably have some household item you could use at that age.

For example, in my attic, i found a shower caddy - plastic with a couple of cubbies and a bar for hanging wash cloths. Ever since i found it, i have used it for a baby perch for the first couple week of life. Then they outgrow it.

I lay it down flat so the bar is about 3 inches off the floor. Some of them will perch on the bar, and others will sleep under the little shelves/cubbies. But they'll all gather on or under it. It's very cute.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I've taken to putting a roost in the brooder from the beginning. It takes them a week or two to begin playing on it. It speeds up their roosting once out in the grow out pen considerably. Mine is made out of a couple of pieces of scrap wood and some sticks I cut off the property.