Will not Roost

[NSChickenMamma]

Our 4 month old Houdans will not roost.

We have tried all different heights of roosts plus put in some nesting boxes and they will not go near them. If we place them on the bars, they immediately jump off. They seem more content sleeping on top of each other on the floor in the corner.

Any suggestions?

 

[NovaAman]

Yup... Make sure the coop is secure. Put up a 12 inch wide roost. I have a hen who will only roost on 10 inch or better like a shelf. I also have silkies an won't roost and silkies who roost 5 feet up... Birds... Lol.

 

[ShabbyChic]

I hear you. We have 8, 6 week old chicks who roosted at one time but now seem to like piling up on each other in the corner by the door. They will still occasionally get on but most of them don't. So weird.

 

[centrarchid]

Our 4 month old Houdans will not roost.

We have tried all different heights of roosts plus put in some nesting boxes and they will not go near them. If we place them on the bars, they immediately jump off. They seem more content sleeping on top of each other on the floor in the corner.

Any suggestions?

At about time they start to pile up for night move them up to desired roost. Repeat as needed for a couple of nights. Too early and they will jump down and they are harder to catch. Too late and they will not imprint on new location increasing odds they will return pile spot next evening.

 

[beaglex3]

our chickens are 12 weeks old. the hubs built a great coop for them complete with dowel roosts. as soon as they were big enough to begin roosting, a few of them flew up to shelves my husband put up high to use as storage. pretty soon, a whole lot of them were cramming themselves onto these shelves. 2 or 3 of the 14 were left to use the dowels, but always seemed anxious at roost time because they wanted up with their pals. so the hubs put up another shelf, using a 2x6 board. now all 14 of them roost on these boards instead of the dowels.

my question is this.....is it ok for them to roost on these 2x6 boards instead of a dowel rod? someone told me it would hurt their feet to be flat instead of wrapped around a dowel. i thought i'd check with the experts. i sure hope this is ok, bcuz i don't know how we are going to get them to change now.

thanks!