Orpington refusing to use perch

Des C · « **on:** January 25, 2007, 21:45 »

One of my Buff Orpingtons is refusing to use a perch. She lies on the floor of the coop at night and as you can imagine, she is quite a mess in the morning. I had not intended to have two hens as large as this alongside the maran and welsummer but my order got mixed up and I took them both. The coop is not large, measuring 4 x 2 with two perches and one smallish nest box. Should I swap her for something smaller before they become established or is her behaviour normal?

P.S The welsummer egg was eaten (boiled) by my youngest daughter who pronounced it delicious!! Photo to follow (once my oldest daughter shows me how!!)
Des C

MontyTom · « **Reply #1 on:** January 25, 2007, 21:57 »

Des, how old are the orpingtons and how long have you had it/them? Is there any conflict between the birds, above and beyond 'normal' pecking order?

Des C · « **Reply #2 on:** January 25, 2007, 22:09 »

I have only had the birds for a few days. They are all last years hatch and came from the same farm. They did have more scope to free range as I have penned them on the advise of the breeder. there has been no conflict or squabbling. I was thinking that they simly can't fit on a 24" perch.

Des C

MontyTom · « **Reply #3 on:** January 25, 2007, 22:31 »

Have you only the one perch? Is there room to put a slanting ladder type bank of perches in?

I only have 6 x 4 shed so room is limited. I have multi-level perches at different rotations so my birds can hop around and explore the higher levels. Seems to keep them busy, especially when pecking cabbage etc hung around the place.

Do you know if they were perching normally from where you got them from? If not, have you tried putting the bird on the perch yourself?

muntjac · « **Reply #4 on:** January 25, 2007, 22:58 »

answer there is simple she canot perch as she has no place to . make another perch going along the back of the hutch , at 4x2 ft it is not big enough by any means . try and get one made up to 4x4 minimum dec matey . this sounds like you have a rabbit hutch type shed for them .. if the hen is not able to perch she wil become stressed my friend

Des C · « **Reply #5 on:** January 25, 2007, 23:54 »

I've checked the dimensions and have had another look at the arrangements. The coop is actually 30" deep and 48" wide. i was told that it would hold six birds no problem. The guy probably didn't reckon on my superbirds! One of the perches is occupied by the two small birds leaving the two fat ladies to struggle. I can't afford another coop so soon so I'll probably swap one of the orps for a welsummer or small hybrid. I can't see any other solution at present.

Thanks for your comments guys.

Des C

muntjac · « **Reply #6 on:** January 26, 2007, 10:37 »

des mate can i pont ya in the direction of a hammer saw some nails screws and this book .poultry house construction . by micheal roberts .order it from this site and i believe you get a discount ... dont quote me on that or buy it from the shop on order
isbn 9780947870218 it is a good little book and i can see from my chicken experiance you will be able to house your birds very well . and i have no doubt it will be a dam site cheaper to build your own than to buy a premade one from the pet shop on the corner type thing ok some may be good but others are total dodo and wholly unsuitable for chickens, and can you fit a bar on an angle coming from the back wall and side wall ?for the 2 spare birds until such times as you get it sorted?

sorrel · « **Reply #7 on:** January 26, 2007, 13:00 »

(assuming there is addequate space for the orp) have you tried actually putting her on the perch. In my early days a couple of birds didnt seem to know how - and prefered to stay on the floor but after 2 or 3 nights of actually sitting them on the perch they got the hang of it and there has been no problem since.

john p · « **Reply #8 on:** January 26, 2007, 15:01 »

I have a Light Sussex which started laying at the beginning of 2006. She always slept in the nest box until she started moulting and stopped laying in November when she joined the 2 Rhodes on the perch. Guess what- she started laying again on 10th Jan and she's back sleeping in the nest box again!! John P

Barry J Scott · « **Reply #9 on:** January 26, 2007, 15:21 »

My 2 Orpington corss's (15 weeks old) both sleep next together in a nest box. When I can catch them I put them in on the perches but they like the nest boxes.

I wouldn't mind too much except they leave it full of ****

sorrel · « **Reply #10 on:** January 26, 2007, 16:25 »

Poo in the nest boxes os not a good thing Barry! As you chicks wont be laying yet, why dont you try blocking the nest boxes off for a few weeks until they come into lay, so they dont get into the habit?

Barry J Scott · « **Reply #11 on:** January 26, 2007, 16:30 »

I have some older girls who are laying so unfortunately I cannot. I just make sure I clean the boxes in the morning before the others go in to lay.

Des C · « **Reply #12 on:** January 26, 2007, 17:55 »

Thanks again for all the tips. I went over to see the breeder today and she said that her orpingtons all prefer the floor. I was not convinced and asked her to exchange the birds for RIR crosses. These are small and neat and three of them plus the welsummer and maran seem to be able to roost without difficulty. Im beginning to think that the orpington had problems with its feet. Either way, it could't spend its life being showered with ****.
As to the coop, it was built by a local farmer who has a number of identical set ups. It is undoubtedly at its full capacity. I'll build something bigger when the weather improves. I have seen some good stuff made from pallets and I'll take a look at the book recommended by Karl..

Cheers everyone.
Des C

MontyTom · « **Reply #13 on:** January 26, 2007, 22:16 »

Des, build a ladder type perch, need only be two 'rungs' deep qnd pitch it at about 40-45 degrees. This way all the birds can perch with plenty of space and not dodo on each other in a confined spaced. The other option, as Karl suggested, is do what I have done and just screw in a perch a bit higher to the other at 90 degrees, possibly 5-6 inches higher. Easy and cheap to do. I only converted an old shed for mine. Keep the cash in your pocket!

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