I've had four young chickens for the past two weeks. They're in a makeshift brooder in the house, and there are no older chickens. At this point, I have a 6-week-old, a 7-week-old, and two 10- through 12-week-olds.
At night, they don't go up on their roost bar to sleep. They'll sleep in a puppy pile, generally behind, underneath, or around their tall, metal ratproof feeder on the opposite side of their brooder. (The roost bar is closest to the window. The feeder is closest to the rest of the house, from which some accidental light occasionally reaches them.) On the very first night, one of the two older girls was roosting on the side of their water dish to sleep, so we put in a roost bar the very next day.
When it gets dark, we go in and pick them up from where they've settled and move them onto the roost bar. They settle on the roost bar without a problem then; they don't fly off it unless they get some accidental light in the room. If they get any light in the room, they'll start to hop off and form another puppy pile on the ground. Is there a better way to train them to go onto the bar at night?
They interact with the roost bar during the day. I'll see one or two of them sit up there for a small day nap or to preen. Everyone can reach it. There's lots of room for them all to be up there.
What are we doing wrong? What aren't we doing that they need?
At night, they don't go up on their roost bar to sleep. They'll sleep in a puppy pile, generally behind, underneath, or around their tall, metal ratproof feeder on the opposite side of their brooder. (The roost bar is closest to the window. The feeder is closest to the rest of the house, from which some accidental light occasionally reaches them.) On the very first night, one of the two older girls was roosting on the side of their water dish to sleep, so we put in a roost bar the very next day.
When it gets dark, we go in and pick them up from where they've settled and move them onto the roost bar. They settle on the roost bar without a problem then; they don't fly off it unless they get some accidental light in the room. If they get any light in the room, they'll start to hop off and form another puppy pile on the ground. Is there a better way to train them to go onto the bar at night?
They interact with the roost bar during the day. I'll see one or two of them sit up there for a small day nap or to preen. Everyone can reach it. There's lots of room for them all to be up there.
What are we doing wrong? What aren't we doing that they need?