Why will my chickens not roost

chickenmama109

Free Ranging
7 Years
Joined
Mar 5, 2017
Messages
3,576
Reaction score
4,781
Points
527
Location
texas
Hi I have two chickens one rooster nine hens and three chicks that live outside with them they are getting very close too laying eggs and I put a extra roosting bar in the coop and they just go in to too there plastic tote at night and in the morning they sit on the roost what does that mean and how can I get them too roost
 
Try blocking off the nesting boxes at night and setting them on the roosts at night.
You may have to do this several days in a row until they roost on their own.
 
The way I read that you have two pullets at point of lay but not laying yet. You also have 10 adults, one hen probably was broody and is raising three chicks. The adults probably sleep on the main roosts but the two POL pullets will not sleep up there with the adults.

That all sounds normal, my pullets usually will not join the adults on the roosts until they start laying. It may be a few days before but usually a week or two after they start laying. Until them they are still too immature to force their way into the packing order and are afraid of the adults. That's why they are on the roosts in the morning when the adults are on the coop floor. They are avoiding the adults by going to the roosts.

It sounds like you built a separate roost for them but they are not taking advantage of it. I don't know what that separate plastic tote is, a nest or maybe their brooder? I don't know how far away from the main roosts your new roost is or how it's laid out. Is it lower than the main roosts and separated enough horizontally so the adults can't peck them when they are on it?

All this sounds very familiar. I put in a juvenile roost, higher than my nests but lower than the main roosts and separated a few feet to give my juveniles a place to go that is not my nests. Usually my juveniles use this juvenile roost when they are ready to start roosting, but occasionally I have groups that continue to sleep on the floor of the coop until they mature enough to force their way into the pecking order. They are not causing any harm there so I just leave them alone, they eventually move to the main roosts on their own.

If they are sleeping in nests and you have a higher roost available or you really want them to start roosting, go out there at night after it is dark and start setting them on the roost where they are safe from the adults. It needs to be pretty dark so they don't just hop down. They may catch on pretty quickly or it may take a while. Just try to be consistent.

Good luck!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom