AyamLaughing
In the Brooder
Give them time, they are still young and figuring things out
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Nah, they're just preferring a spot that's not the intended roost location. None of OP's birds look to be breeds that have a hard time flying so at 5 weeks old they can easily fly up several feet. And the roosts in the photos appear to be too close together, as noted by several others.Your roosting bars are too high for them. The bars are too far apart.
I had to place mine on the roost, but they didn't take long for them to get the hang of itHi all,
First time chicken owner here. Our chicks are now 5 weeks old. We put them in their coop about 1.5 weeks ago. They all seem very healthy and we haven't had any major issues so far. The coop is a converted barn stall and we built a run off the back.
Our only problem is that all 19 of them cram onto the ledge in front of the pop door to roost at night instead of using the roost bars we made. Before that they were roosting in front of the nest boxes (out of the camera frame). We have seen them on the roost bars from time to time, including the very top bar, but they never stay there long. We put a tarp underneath to catch poop but they're making a huge mess on the ledge every night, which is really the only reason we have an issue with it.
Are they cold? It's been pretty hot the last two weeks but nightly lows have started to dip back down to 60-70⁰F.
Is there something about the roost bars that they don't like? Too steep, to wide, is the tarp an issue?
Or are they just being chickens?
Pretty please use 2"x4"s flat, not on edge, as chickens prefer to sleep flat-footed. I read that 10 yrs ago and changed out one roosting bar for a flat 2"x4". No one wanted to roost anywhere else. Then I put a 6" wide board in. Everyone wanted that.Hi all,
First time chicken owner here. Our chicks are now 5 weeks old. We put them in their coop about 1.5 weeks ago. They all seem very healthy and we haven't had any major issues so far. The coop is a converted barn stall and we built a run off the back.
Our only problem is that all 19 of them cram onto the ledge in front of the pop door to roost at night instead of using the roost bars we made. Before that they were roosting in front of the nest boxes (out of the camera frame). We have seen them on the roost bars from time to time, including the very top bar, but they never stay there long. We put a tarp underneath to catch poop but they're making a huge mess on the ledge every night, which is really the only reason we have an issue with it.
Are they cold? It's been pretty hot the last two weeks but nightly lows have started to dip back down to 60-70⁰F.
Is there something about the roost bars that they don't like? Too steep, to wide, is the tarp an issue?
Or are they just being chickens?
Fyi I had the opposite experience. I had 2x4s turned flat and one board was turned up and they all preferred the narrow boardPretty please use 2"x4"s flat, not on edge, as chickens prefer to sleep flat-footed. I read that 10 yrs ago and changed out one roosting bar for a flat 2"x4". No one wanted to roost anywhere else. Then I put a 6" wide board in. Everyone wanted that.
Hi all,
First time chicken owner here. Our chicks are now 5 weeks old. We put them in their coop about 1.5 weeks ago. They all seem very healthy and we haven't had any major issues so far. The coop is a converted barn stall and we built a run off the back.
Our only problem is that all 19 of them cram onto the ledge in front of the pop door to roost at night instead of using the roost bars we made. Before that they were roosting in front of the nest boxes (out of the camera frame). We have seen them on the roost bars from time to time, including the very top bar, but they never stay there long. We put a tarp underneath to catch poop but they're making a huge mess on the ledge every night, which is really the only reason we have an issue with it.
Are they cold? It's been pretty hot the last two weeks but nightly lows have started to dip back down to 60-70⁰F.
Is there something about the roost bars that they don't like? Too steep, to wide, is the tarp an issue?
Or are they just being chickens?