When should I introduce a perch to my chicks someday to be layers?

[douglasobsharsky]

I put one in the first day they got to my house and they jumped over at first then day 2 some could stand on it but fall off when they slept but now they sleep on them. they are only 5 days old now.

day 1

Than i built them this one

She is sleeping with her head on the next perch

They can get some peace and quiet up here

This is an old pool stick i ruffed up the finish with a knife and put it on a couple of 2x4 blocks. At 3 days old she can sleep up there. about 1 1/2 inches off the ground

 

[RebelsHope]

Lil' chicks sleeping is SO cute!

douglasobsharsky: the chick in the third pic sleep on your very cool perch is just precious! Looks dead to the world!

 

[sunnychooks]

Don't worry about putting a roost in too early. Have it available to them and they'll use it when they are ready.

 

[havi]

Quote:
Haha mine do the same thing. I have six 11 and 12 day old chicks. Half use it as a perch the other half just run under it.

 

[momma's chickens]

I am glad that this thread came up; it reminded me that it is definitely time to make my babies a roost. They are almost five weeks and three weeks; it is past time to make them a perch. They were perching on the waterer so I made sure it was higher than that.

 

[sBrickmanHouse]

My girls had full sized roosts (at 3, 4, and 5' high) plus smaller, lower branches I just propped around their coop when I put them in at a week old.

They started playing around on the branches, and even the higher roosts, pretty quickly. Unlike some of the other posters, though, they didn't start actually sleeping on them until about a week ago, at around 7 weeks.

It just seemed like they slept snuggled up together on the floor for the longest time, and then one night, all of a sudden, I went to check on them and they were all sleeping on the roosts!