[cheeky chick]

Hi,
We have just got ourselves some ex-battery hens. Our ladies are doing fine - the are exploring the run, eating and laying but we cannot get them to use the roosts. They prefer to sit on the floor or use the nest boxes. We pick them up and place them on the roosts but they just jump off again!!
Has anyone got any ideas??


 :?

[mumsy]

You'll find on here that most people's chooks choose to reside in the nest boxes....... as was said before.......comfy straw.........thin stick? I know what I would choose     You can pop them on the perches every night til they get the hang of it, but hey, why not let them sleep where they want, just remove the poo if in the nest box when you let them out in the morning to keep the eggies clean.

Oops, sorry. welcome by the way  

[cheeky chick]

Thanks - I wasn't sure if there was a special reason why they had to roost - my husband said to just take the roost poles out and let them get on with it but I wasn't so sure

[Foxy]

Battery hens have never roosted in their life their tiny cages have not allowed for it, so probably happier just now sleeping on the floor

[GrannieAnnie]

Our ex batts soon got the roosting idea.  As we had so many, we didn't really want them filling up the nest boxes with poo, and if they sleep on the floor, they get poopy too, but I'd leave the perches in their house.  Some of them will perch some won't, but as you've now given them a lovely new life, just let them do it how they want.    

[richyrich7]

Welcome cheeky well done for giving some batts a chance, I'm with grannie on this I only have 4 but wouldn't want them sleeping in the nest boxes. Try waiting till its just dark then try putting them on takes patience as the poor devils have never had the chance before.

[violet]

Since getting our lovely new eglu cube with its many roosting bars.....two fo the girls sleep in the nest box and one balances precariously in the gap between the roosting bars and the nest box!    :roll:

[cheeky chick]

I've just checked and 2 are using the perch, 1 is perching on the nest box divider, 2 are in one nest box and 1 is in the other nest box.
It's hard to reach past  the perches to the nest boxes to get them out!!
I  will just have to see what happens - they may just be huddled together for comfort while it's still all new to them. I will give it a few more tries to get them on the perches - you never know - they might get the hint!!!

[too many girls]

i've had my ex barn hens for 2 weeks now, none of them will use the perches, they go to sleep huddled together on the floor, i've lowered the jump to the bottom rung to see if they will try that, no luck, i think lifting them on to the perches at night is a good idea, i'm not going to do it tho, not 66 times a night anyway...........

[kattcottrell]

Hi Cheeky chick and welcome aboard.

I'm from Bristol too, what part do you live in?

Where abouts did you get your ex-batts from as I too would like to  get a couple.

[cheeky chick]

we live in Horfield but drove to Coventry to get the chickens as we couldn't find anywhere locally!!
We have relatives in Coventry so we visited them at the same time