Our chicks are now 7 weeks old and moved into their coop. As advised in Rachel's book, we installed a roosting bar up higher than the nesting boxes but have not seen them attempting to use it yet. We do find that they are going up the ramps to hang out in the nesting boxes. Is there an ideal height for the roosting bar? Should we lower it temporarily until they start using it and then raise it later? Thank you for suggestions!
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What breed are your chickens? Some breeds tend to want to roost higher than others. Typically heavier breeds (plymouth rocks, orpingtons, etc.) want a lower roost than do lighter weight ones (leghorns).
I'm still relatively new to chickens myself, but my roost is only 2- 2.5 feet from the bottom of my raised chicken coop. I have space limitations, so I can't put it up any higher. When the girls were babies their roost was only about 6-10 inches from the floor of the coop. If you have a ramp to the roost the height might not be the problem. Maybe they just need to be shown where to sleep. When my girls were about 3 or 4 weeks old we put a roosting bar in their brooder, and we would set them on it at night to teach them where to sleep. We also checked on them during the night and put them back on it if they were sleeping on the floor. I read this on one of the many websites I had visited learning all I could about chickens, and it worked great. If you think they should physically be able to get up on the roost maybe they just need to be shown what to do. It only took us a couple of days showing them where to sleep, and then they got the hang of it. I hope this helps! :)
Definitely helps, thanks!
We didn't have a coop complete yet for our little chicks, so we bought a cardboard doll house! It was nice and large, about 5 feet wide and maybe 5 feet tall at the peaked roof. It was really neat and all 12 chicks fit just fine in there. We had a heat lamp for the cold nights and they loved it. We made sure the lamp wasn't close to the sides. We put a perch all the way across, through the windows and they soon started using it. It was about 2 feet off the ground. Of course it was in a big horse pen, so there was a cover above them so the rain didn't ruin it. Then, when the horse pen was ready, we put the perch up very high. At first, they all wanted the little coop/doll house, of course, but when they got too big, they started flying up to roost at the top of the enclosed horse pen, about 7 feet up. They like feeling safe, so the higher the better. We don't clip their wings, just in case they need to escape from another animal. We also have other perches that are lower, which they will use when getting to the top roosting bar. So maybe if you do clip their wings, they could still get up high with help? I don't even know how much clipped wings would hinder their flight. So, having said all of this, (typical woman, I am!.....have to use a few hundred words to get to my point!) I think I would lower the roosting bar until they are bigger. Enjoy your little chicks!