Why does my Black Frizzle Cochin Bantam sleep on the floor still?

[nfitzgeraldRN]

Hello! I have a mixed breed flock all raised together now at about 14 weeks. All of my chickens sleep on the roost except my[FONT=arial, helvetica, verdana, tahoma, sans-serif] black frizzle cochin bantam chicken. While watching them I think its safe to say he is at the bottom of the pecking order, but I have two roost. All the chickens sleep on the higher one, leaving the lower one empty. My little black frizzle doesnt even try to get up there. [/FONT]




Should I be worried about this? Should I make him a nest box down there to sleep in and protect him? Should I make a low low roost for him? ( I call it a him..but I really dont know his sex). Any ideas or thoughts on this? I have other bantams that can jump up there, although he is the smallest.

Thanks!

 

[RockerHen]

My silkies do not roost either. Their shredded feathers are not meant for flight and make it difficult to flap higher than a foot or two. I would suspect the curled feathers of frizzles create the same problem. For my silkie pens, I use a dogloo type dog house for them all to sleep in (they all snuggle up together in it at night). I also had a LF cochin hen was too heavy to fly up to the roost in my layer pen, also, so I built a very low roost (less than a foot off the ground) for her which she hopped up on at night. i think that either a box or a low roost would work for this guy quite well. A box would be better in colder weather to help keep him warm since he can't snuggle up to the others.

 

[nfitzgeraldRN]

I have one silkie bantam that does sleep either on the floor with my frizzle or on the roost with the other chickens. My fear is excatly what you are talking about...the COLD. In the winter I worry he will be cold with no one to snuggle. Maybe a small nest down there will entice my silkie to hang out with this guy, or at least keep him warm all alone. I see what you are saying about his wings, that makes sense. He never flaps around and flys like my other chickens. Thanks for your advice!

 

[RockerHen]

I have one silkie bantam that does sleep either on the floor with my frizzle or on the roost with the other chickens. My fear is excatly what you are talking about...the COLD. In the winter I worry he will be cold with no one to snuggle. Maybe a small nest down there will entice my silkie to hang out with this guy, or at least keep him warm all alone. I see what you are saying about his wings, that makes sense. He never flaps around and flys like my other chickens. Thanks for your advice!

You're welcome

a friend to snuggle up with would definitely be the best option. I know my silkies do love their "pile house" in the winter, and form a huge fluffy, warm pile. I've since had to move the house down from the cinder blocks because some of my larger crested girls were having trouble even getting that high.

 

[nfitzgeraldRN]

OMG, those are too cute! Love them! Do you have a pic of a hen silkie vs a roo? I have one that is 14 weeks that I cannot tell. I am hoping its a hen and she'll hatch some eggs!

 

[nfitzgeraldRN]

You cannot see her that close in this pic.. she's a doll. She is the white one. (Hopefully SHE)

 

[RockerHen]

All mine are bearded, yours appears to be nonbearded, which are actually easier to sex (wattle development is visible). A better pic would be nice, but it looks like you may have a girl, I see no wattle development

Another thing to watch for are 'streamers', shiny, thin feathers coming from the back of the crest and sticking out longer than the rest of the feathers. This is an exclusively male feature.

Here is a cockerel. He was around 5 months when this photo was taken I believe. Here you can see the comb, and the streamers coming out of his crest.



Here are two older pullets (around 6 months). Their crests are round and poofy, no streamers, no visible comb.



And here is an older pullet (5 or 6 months) with a younger cockerel to the right (I think he was about 4 months in this). Comb development is obvious in cockerels, almost nonexistant in pullets sometimes.

And if she's a hen, she's almost guaranteed to hatch you some eggs. Every single one of my girls has gone broody this year, some multiple times!

 

[nfitzgeraldRN]

Oh so exciting! I think she may be a hen then. Ill try to get a better pic tomorrow. My daughter has been loving her up everyday now! She doesn't have any waddles that I have noticed and her comb is very small, if any! No streamers, just a fluffy head! When yours went broody did you have to separate her? That will become a whole other lesson for me! These are my first batch. I just love them!

 

[Sally8]

Hi! I have 2 Sizzled Silkies that do not roost either. Once I get everyone situated to where they need to be ( I incubated eggs this spring) I may put in a very low roost to see if that works. sue

 

[laturcotte1]

I have 3 white silkie bantam hens. I didn't know they didn't roost, I thought something was wrong with them. When I looked it up I was shocked to find some don't. When they went broody they laid their eggs on the floor in a corner and hatched them just fine. Then we moved them to a new coop and one day I couldn't find one of the silkies anywhere, I searched and searched and there she was on the shelf (knee high) in the nesting box. Go figure. Now I have one sitting on the floor. I'm always having to wash their butts though, its the feathers. Did you find they are very easy to pick up because they can't see you coming.