Will this chick ever roost?

[Mark]

This 4 day old pullet is either a Black Jersey Giant or a Black Australorp. We have 2 chicks of each. 2 have a little white, and 2 have a little more white. This is the little more white.

DW wants me to be sure to have a home for her when she grows up. According to the catalog, she will be 8.5 to 10 pounds when full size. Where will she want to sleep? Surely, not in a roost 5' in the air.

 

[MissPrissy]

Yes, she will roost there and higher. They fly pretty well.

If she is a australorp she is an 'australian orpington' from a turn of the century export of black orpingtons reintroduced under the trademark name autralorp.

Why do you not want to keep her? She will lay consistantly and will lay nice large eggs.

 

[bigzio]

It would be quite simple to create the proper roost. It really doesn't take much. While it sounds like the size will be overwhelming, in reality it won't be. This could turn out to be your favorite, they have a way of doing that you know?

bigzio

 

[redchicken]

we have Jersey Giants and our roosts are 2-4 feet high

 

[Mark]

Thanks for the replies.

There is no question about our keeping her. The only question is what her room will look like.

DW thought she might like to sleep in a box rather than a roost. Our experiences with Cornish Xs made us think that a 10 pound bird wouldn't have legs and wings strong enough to manage getting off the ground.

 

[MissPrissy]

She will grow to be a good sized girl but she won't be anything like a cornish cross meat bird.

You'll love her. Don't treat her any differently than the other chickens. She isn't different.

 

[hcammack]

the JG and austrolopes grow slower so there legs can adjust to the weight of there bodies while the cornish X's grow dibilitatingly fast.

henry

 

[Mark]

We have purchased a red heat lamp to let the chicks sleep at night and thus slow their growth. We have no desire to see anything like the growth rates those Cornish Xs displayed.

 

[Eryn]

I have wyandottes which as easily that big and thay have taken to sleeping on my gardening workbench! I'm building them a bigger coop that will have higher roosts than they currently have, they found the highest point they could get to which is the shelf above my gardening workbench which is about 5' high! Sitting there they look right in my kitchen window and scared me to death the first time!

They can hop with no problem into my porch swing, one of the free standing kinds... To get onto the workbench they hop up in a chair, then on the table, then on the BBQ, then onto the workbench, then on the shelf above it! Where there is a will there is a way! I don't think they could fly straight to it but they have found a way to get up there anyway!

 

[silkiechicken]

I wouldn't worry about your chicks there, they won't grow like cornish x's and to reach that 8-10 lb range... it may take them 1-2 years instead of 6-10 weeks. I have a cochin cross mix who weighs 10.5 lbs, but is now going on to his 3rd year in life. I got him at a year old and he was only about 8 lbs then, with his 6 month old son only be 7 lbs. They are slow to mature and should have a very sturdy body to go with them! Good luck!