Nobody sleeps in the right place

[Lin_0330]

Very funny.
I have a older hen who lived by her own for several months and as winter approaches I think it would a bit hard for her to handle the cold by herself.
so I bought 3 young pullets so ideally they would cuddle together at night.
Surprisingly my older hen has been super nice and accepted them all on the first day, there was a little picking at the back but even that was a gentle pick.

And this is what it looks like in the coop on day 1.

The young pullets followed the older hen so they were all in the coop which Is great. But none of them are roosting on the perch.
My old hen never did before so it is not surprising, but it is quite funny to see all the younger ones are all struggled in the nest box as well.

 

[sourland]

Are the roost bars higher than where they are now sleeping? If not raise them. Chickens generally like to roost at the highest point possible.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Are those brown bars towards the top half of the photo the roost bars? They're way too low so unappealing to chickens. Really need to raise them higher than the nests to encourage them to use them.

I do not allow chickens to sleep in the nests (I have a special needs bird that tries and gets moved nightly) so I'd be blocking those off at night until the whole flock was using the newly raised roosts.

 

[aart]

But none of them are roosting on the perch.
My old hen never did before so it is not surprising

@Lin_0330 do you want them to sleep on the roost/perch?

If so, this might work....
Here's an excellent modification to that kind of coop:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ng-in-nest-boxes.1134399/page-2#post-17749535

 

[Lin_0330]

Thanks All. Yes I would like them to sleep on the perch to keep the nest box clean.
I know this coop design is a bit bad and the perch is low but the hens I got 2 years ago always slept on the perch without a issue, so it is very funny to see this year’s hen all slept in nest box.

Thanks for the helpful link, I will try to raise the perch.