Roosting rod necessary?

[ellend]

haha--wasn't passing moral judgement on chickens; the point was that chickens benefit from having a roost, and chicken vs. human sleeping arrangements is an apples-to-oranges (irrelevant) comparison. Glad you defend animals with science, though...

 

[ChickenCanoe]

haha--wasn't passing moral judgement on chickens; the point was that chickens benefit from having a roost, and chicken vs. human sleeping arrangements is an apples-to-oranges (irrelevant) comparison. Glad you defend animals with science, though...

No worries.
I think many people view the world in general and specifically that of animals or more importantly, in their understanding of the unnatural view of human social behavior.

 

[Chef JimmyJ]

I have a different experience than some here. I had two, 4 month old injured and recovering Jersey Giants that slept in our Bedroom. One perched on a small shelf on our Headboard and her sister perched on my Ribcage all night! When I got up to use the bathroom, she would climb up my back and sit on my shoulder while I took care of my business. She reversed the process as I laid back down. In any event, there was rarely more than two marble sized solid droppings in their respective sleeping places the next morning. This was the Only reason they were allowed to sleep in our bed instead of a cage. Maybe it was the breed or just luck, but these girls did not poop much at all.
As far as the other 7 birds, there were no poop covered feathers when sleeping on the floor of the brooder and once moved to the big coop, it took 4 weeks before they slowly started moving from the Floor, up a ramp, to the Roost Bars over Poop Boards. Now my Lovely Wife, only scrapes the boards once a week and then there is only enough poop to barely cover the bottom of a 1 Gallon Bucket. YMMV, I guess. ...JJ

 

[goodeggsforyou]

Roosting is something chickens want to do. If you don't give them a place to roost, that goes against normal chicken behavior. They don't have roosts on an egg farm. 4 or 5 hens get their beaks trimmed and packed into each cage. That isn't the life a chicken would choose given a choice.

Very certainly true. These chickens do have a couple of roosting rods in their area that they use quite a bit during the day it's just that at night they don't inside the coop. Interestingly they have just started roosting on the outside of the coop but not on the actual rods.

 

[goodeggsforyou]

Yes, chickens need a roost.
Do you like your bed?

I like my bed even more than I like smart alecks but point taken. As I told someone above, they have recently started roosting outside on top of their coop even though there are roosting rods in that enclosed area that they could utilize. It makes me wonder if it is more about them liking to be up high better than the actual rod(?)

 

[goodeggsforyou]

Welcome to our FUNomenal community! Best wishes and have lots of fun!
Like already mentioned,roosting is a must!

I should have been clear that they do have the ability to roost as there are rods available to them in their enclosed area but s the weather gets cold they'll want me to be inside the coop. Thanks for your kindness!

 

[goodeggsforyou]

I have a different experience than some here. I had two, 4 month old injured and recovering Jersey Giants that slept in our Bedroom. One perched on a small shelf on our Headboard and her sister perched on my Ribcage all night! When I got up to use the bathroom, she would climb up my back and sit on my shoulder while I took care of my business. She reversed the process as I laid back down. In any event, there was rarely more than two marble sized solid droppings in their respective sleeping places the next morning. This was the Only reason they were allowed to sleep in our bed instead of a cage. Maybe it was the breed or just luck, but these girls did not poop much at all.
As far as the other 7 birds, there were no poop covered feathers when sleeping on the floor of the brooder and once moved to the big coop, it took 4 weeks before they slowly started moving from the Floor, up a ramp, to the Roost Bars over Poop Boards. Now my Lovely Wife, only scrapes the boards once a week and then there is only enough poop to barely cover the bottom of a 1 Gallon Bucket. YMMV, I guess. ...JJ

Hey!! Smoking meat forums too! Yay!

 

[goodeggsforyou]

I would ask what kind of chickens are you planning on keeping? I only ask because years and years ago I ordered 50 large fowl Cochin chicks. They never roosted. I put them up on the roost poles every night, and within minutes most of them were snuggled up on the floor again. This continued all the way from the grow-out pen to their breeding pens. I offered a low roost that some of them would occasionally rest on, but for the most part, the majority of them preferred to snuggle down into the bedding. It was a fight I was not willing to continue and I let them be. That being said, most of my chickens prefer to roost.

Currently I have one Silver-laced Orpington cockerel who sleeps in the floor as he is not comfortable using the ladder to get up to the roosts. When I make it wider, he will most likely return to roosting up there.

Interesting; thanks!

 

[BDutch]

@goodeggsforyou
I wonder what kind of rods you have, and how high from the ground or poop board. ?
Maybe there is something you’re girls dont like about it? Too round? Too sharp?
Pictures?

And btw Silkies rarely roost.

And welcome to BYC of course!

 

[ChickDad86]

Just gonna throw this out there. The question was do they absolutely have to have one. The answer is technically no, they don’t HAVE to have one. Mine didn’t for quite some time. I did install one (tried round rod and 2x3) and the chickens hardly ever use it, like 1 or 2 used it occasionally. It is going to depend on your chickens. It is best to give them the option though.