chickens not roosting

[daisychain7]

Hello
I have a fabulous flock of 7 very happy hens living in a Green Frog medium chicken loft, so there is plenty of space for everyone, but my 2 Barnevelders don't seem to roost on the perches at night. Most of the time they sit on the bedding underneath the others hens.
One of them used to use the perch, the other perched occasionally, but now they seem to sit together on the 'floor'. Does it matter?

 

[Marigold]

It only matters in that they will be sitting in poo, inhaling any ammonia fumes at close range, and possibly at risk from the droppings of other birds coming from above. It's easier to keep everything clean if the birds perch properly. I've got the same sort of coop as you and the perches are very comfortable.
It's not such a big problem if they're on the floor as if they take to roosting in the nestboxes, as then they'll leave droppings overnight which will soil the eggs next day. But you could probably train them to roost within a week if you were prepared to go down after dark and lift them back on to the perches. They should get the idea quite quickly.
Some larger, heavy breeds such as Brahmas or Orpingtons do prefer not to exert themselves by getting up on perches, but Barnvelders shouldn't have a problem with it.

 

[chrismahon]

Worth checking their feet for bumble foot Daisychain7. They may not like the pain of landing?

As Marigold says they are at risk of being poo'd on. Worth trying to re-educate them.

 

[Cab]

Some hens just don't seem to roll that way. Our old Sussex, Vicky, didn't much see the point of perching to sleep most nights and it was a devil getting her to sleep anywhere but the nest box for the first half of the night (she'd always go back there, no matter how many times we took her out).

But do make sure that everything else is okay with them, and make sure you pick up the poos from under the perches every morning if someone is going to be sleeping there, and try to get her out of the habit. May I ask, is the perch big enough for their feet, with rounded off corners?

Once in a while a hen low down in the pecking order might slouch under the others and fall asleep there - so even if there's another perch to go on to, she'll go underneath the others on a more crowded perch to be close to the others without upsetting anyone else. So sometimes putting a longer perch in (maybe diagonally) can solve this.

And occasionally some of the larger framed hen varieties just don't feel comfy perching all night. And a barnevelder, if memory serves, can be quite a big critter?

 

[daisychain7]

Thank you for all your advice, it's really helpful.
I hope it's not bumblefoot - I've just googled it- yuk. I'll check them this evening. They are only 25 weeks old and so far have been the picture of health, really happy and glossy so fingers crossed. It can't be splinters from the perches as they're plastic, and I don't think it is perch size/height. There is plenty of space for all of them - every night there is a whole perch free!
Fortunately the poo problem isn't too great as I pick the poo out of the house every morning when I let them out (when it is still in nice straight lines!). So they will always be in clean bedding, but I can't stop the others dropping droppings on them! (You'd have thought that would be enough to make any hen perch!)
At least they aren't sleeping in the nest boxes! Then again, they have recently started laying, and neither of them use the nest box. Again, they just use that bit of the house where they sleep! I'm hoping they are just daft, I'll check their feet and maybe try to persuade them to roost!
Thank you

 

[daisychain7]

I'm no expert, but I have checked all 7 of my hens and their feet look fine. Phew. Good to know though, I'll keep a beady eye on them!