Youngsters sleeping under roosts. Gross!

[wateboe]

I have some young birds that have shown NO interest in the roosts provided. They all pile up together on the floor of the coop for the night. (Not just a cold-weather thing either, they did this in the heat as well.) The coop is quite secure, so I don't worry about predators or vermin being a problem, but the silly babies sleep right under the adult birds... and we all know how much waste those big ones generate overnight! It is really disgusting, picking up a young pullet in the early morning semi-darkness and ending up with slimy "material" all over you. No more snuggles first thing in the morning!

The roosts are all at different heights, some quite low to encourage the youngsters and make life easier for the elderly ladies in the group.

Does anyone have any creative ideas to offer? I have been toying with the idea of adding trays under the existing roosts. If I build frames for these perhaps the babies would at least go under them and be somewhat protected.

 

[jossanne]

I would make more high roosts, and start putting the little ones up after they go to roost at night. My girls all fight over the highest roosts, and we've discovered the lower ones aren't popular at all.

Ours were piling up in a corner of the hen house at night (we only had 5 to start), and after about 3 nights of going out to put them to bed on the roosts, they no longer needed showing.

 

[Rte.66_chicks]

After a few times of pulling mine out of the poop-pit and putting them on the roosts, they started using them. Now it's WWIII every evening as they all try for the highest perch.

 

[BeardedChick]

Put in a droppings board. I just added them to my coop and they are really nice.

 

[zachslc]

When I was younger I occasionally woke up hugging the toilet. Maybe this is the same sort of thing.

 

[wateboe]

Ha! (zachslc) The only hard-partying my chickens do involves yogurt feeding frenzies!

I will start catching all of the little monsters each night and placing them on the roosts to see if they get the hint. The droppings board/tray sounds like a good plan even if they do start roosting, so I will recruit my husband to help me with that project this weekend.

Speaking of construction projects... anyone have any clever ideas for in-pasture shelters for free-rangers? My birds have access to the barn and coop at all times, but I think that they would appreciate another shelter as well, one that they could get to more quickly and enter quickly as a group when our neighborhood hawks fly over. I would love to see pictures!