When will my chickens start roosting at night?

[steveslavachicken]

First time chicken owner here. I have nine chickens between 7-9 weeks old, and they are not yet roosting at night. They will roost all day long in their run and in the coop during the day, but at night they still pile up on the floor near the coop entrance. My run is enclosed and secure, with a top floor coop above, and the entrance to the coop remains open to the secure run below. I don’t think it’s a problem of roosting space, as I tried to be generous with this and they have no problems roosting in the daytime. Thoughts? Are they just not there yet age-wise? Does it even matter since they appear completely comfortable and cozy regardless? Maybe they feel safe on the floor since the coop itself is raised?

 

[WingItRanch]

Perfectly normal! They love their cuddle piles and it takes a while for the instinct to roost to kick in, especially if they don't have older hens to show them the way. I remember my first brood laying in the piles on the floor for a couple weeks and then one day, they were all using the roost bars.

 

[BDutch]

If you like them to roost inside asap , you can:

• Put the juveniles on the roost when its getting dark. Do this a couple of evenings.
• add a small light inside the coop on a timer set from sunset till real dark.

Or wait a few more weeks. If they are 10- 12 weeks old I would start to train them. But most chickens start roosting by themselves between 8 - 12 weeks if the coop/roosts are right.
My juveniles often preferred the run to roost in. But this is not a good spot.

It’s better to intervene if the run is not safe or not as easy to clean. Roost should be higher than the nestboxes. Cant see this in your photo’s.

 

[steveslavachicken]

If you like them to roost inside asap , you can:

• Put the juveniles on the roost when its getting dark. Do this a couple of evenings.
• add a small light inside the coop on a timer set from sunset till real dark.

Or wait a few more weeks. If they are 10- 12 weeks old I would start to train them. But most chickens start roosting by themselves between 8 - 12 weeks if the coop/roosts are right.
My juveniles often preferred the run to roost in. But this is not a good spot.

It’s better to intervene if the run is not safe or not as easy to clean. Roost should be higher than the nestboxes. Cant see this in your photo’s.

Thank you! I don’t have a nesting box in there yet, as they are still young and I didn’t want them to get in the habit of sleeping in it since they are still piling up.

 

[steveslavachicken]

Perfectly normal! They love their cuddle piles and it takes a while for the instinct to roost to kick in, especially if they don't have older hens to show them the way. I remember my first brood laying in the piles on the floor for a couple weeks and then one day, they were all using the roost bars.

Ok great, thank you! I will wait and see what they do in the next few weeks.