roosting

Please can someone tell me how to persuade my chickens to roost instead of sleeping on the floor of the coup? I have three pur breed hens about 16 weeks old. A Buff Orpington, a Light Sussex and a Rhode Island Red. They refuse to stay on the perches. I have to clean a corner of the coup every morning because they all sleep on top of one another in a corner and make a really big pile of droppings. I have removed the nesting box where it all began but they still sleep in the same place.

Also is it O.K. for the coup to be a bit damp inside? I bought a really expensive very good quality coup but the recent rain has been so bad that I wondered if I should cover it with roofing felt for the winter.

As you can tell I am very new to keeping chickens so any help would be gratefully received.

Hi! Your house shouldn't leak at all if it's good quality. Even our spare coop, a cheap Chinese pile of tinder wood, is dry and warm.
Roofing felt can be a haven for red mite and is best avoided although all the wooden coops have got it!!!

Could you replace the roof with coroline roofing or fit a tarpauline for the winter?  As for using the perches, you might have to keep lifting the girls onto them for a few weeks when they are sleepy until they get the message. 

I had this problem, just keep lifting them uponto the pearches when its dark every night and they soon get the idea.

Thank you to everyone for their helpful replies. I will go back to the expensive supplier about the leaks and keep lifting the birds at night. Please can someone tell me how to use this site as I am finding it difficult to use the hen house board. Thanks.