Perching problems

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tygrysek75

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My Rhode Island Red aka Rudy is not perching with the other chickens.He is now 19 weeks old and is the tallest from them all.It seems he prfer to sleep in the nest box while all other lern to sleep on the perch with little help from me.My nest boxex where higher before then perches,but I had changed this last weekend and rised the perchse above them.Some of them still try to sneek in to the nest boxes for the night but after I move them to the perch they stay there all night(good chickens),but Rudy still coming back to the nest box.I hope he soon get it but for the moment i do not think of him highly :evil: ,do you have any sugestions to try with him,please.
 
Just before they go in put a big upturned plant pot in each nest box. Then later, when he has settled down on the floor, lift him onto the perch. Few nights of that and he will get the hang of it. Perches must be only 18" high though otherwise he may find it too high and too far to drop in the morning and possibility of bumble foot developing.
 
Some of mine sleep in the nest boxes some nights and on perches the next! My two new ones sleep together in one nest box. I just let them sleep wherever they want, I can't see why it matters whether they perch or not, they're happy, so I just leave them alone. To start with it worried me that they weren't sleeping on the perches, but now if they're happy, I'm happy!
 
Thank you for the advise.I do not care if he sleeps on the perch or under as long as it is not in the nest box.My oldest hen shuold lay soon and I do not wanna my eggs mixed with poo.As to lift him on the perch for some strange reason he do not try to grab it propely and falling off straight as soon as I let him go.He do not try to perch on perch but has no problem to do it on the edge of the nest box.I will put the pictures of my set-up you may see what is wrong with it.Thank you20110626_99_2.jpg20111007_99_1.jpg20111007_99_2.jpg20111007_99.jpg20111007_99_6.jpg
 
you could just cover your nest boxes , i have at times covered mine with odd pieces of planks of wood or anything thats heavy that the birds cant knock of it that will stop any poo geting into the boxes .
mine are in thier new house tonight which has a 8 ft perch and when i looked on them as i was locking up only 2 were perching the rest where scattered all over the 8'4 base but by the morning they may all be roosting :lol: makes my new house look to big for 16 adult birds at the end of the day though if the bird feels happy and safe in the nest box then leave them to it . hes still pretty young as well so in time he may very well learn how to roost :)
 
If I block the nests boxex,my hen will not have an acces to it too,and I'm expecting an egg any day now,so do not really wanna her lay anywere but nest box.I'm not opening the cop before 8AM-in chickens time thats late and from reading on this forum the hens tend to lay quaiete early in the morning.I hope he will get it soon I keep kick him out of the nest box for now :|
 
tygrysek75 said:
Thank you for the advise.I do not care if he sleeps on the perch or under as long as it is not in the nest box.My oldest hen shuold lay soon and I do not wanna my eggs mixed with poo.As to lift him on the perch for some strange reason he do not try to grab it propely and falling off straight as soon as I let him go.He do not try to perch on perch but has no problem to do it on the edge of the nest box.I will put the pictures of my set-up you may see what is wrong with it.Thank you
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Erm, mate you need to stop worrying and be ready to have eggs with poo on them :lol: you can't stop chickens from laying eggs where they want to or sleep where they want to. you can encourage them, but at the end of the day if one of the hens that is in a higher pecking order is in the way of the broody she will lay where she can and the others will shit in the next box anyway! not all chickens like to perch, some will some will not. you may find once the weather cools off they will perch more or may even all try to pile into the nest box!! just relax and stop trying to play god. they will be how they will be, they are animals. if you're worried about poo on your eggs, i suggest picking up your eggs from the shop and getting a cat, they are much tidier with their shit. ;)
 
He is probably perching on the edge of the nest box because it is higher than the perches (by the look of your photo) and I understand that they will try to perch on the highest point, that's why the perches need to be higher than the nest boxes. If you clean the boxes out first thing in the morning the eggs won't be covered in poo! I pick up the poo in the house and nest boxes every morning before they start laying, then there's no problem with dirty eggs.
 
Hi Tygresek. I agree with Sue about the height; they need to be higher than the nest boxes. Comes from roosting in trees as far up as possible to be safest from predators a few million years ago. Think your perches are too narrow. They need to be 2" wide with rounded edges and secure from any wobble. Either cut the fixing slots very accurately or an easier way is to fix one side and base against an 'L' piece of wood and screw another piece onto the 'L' to make a tight fitting 'U'.
Its a lot of extra time cleaning poo from the nest boxes and reduces the storage life of eggs if you wash them to get poo off. We only let the old or infirm sleep in the nest boxes -which is just 4 year old Lucy Legbar usually.
 
Thank you Chris,but the perches are 2inch wide round on the edge,they do not wobble and after rising them much higher than the bottom of the nest boxes(see the picture nesboxes from outside) are much higher.For some strange reason he prefers go inside nest box and get comfy there.He is the only one doing it as rest perching happily.He is much taller and has bigger feet than the others but if he can perch on much narrower edge of nestbox(3cm wide)he should have no problems on the perch. :-)19
 
It depends on how many nest boxes you have as to how long it takes. I have 4 nest boxes/2 houses and it takes me about 2 minutes to clean them all out. I don't empty them completely, just pick out the droppings and any soiled bedding. I wouldn't call this time consuming, but if you have 10/20 nest boxes it would obviously take a bit longer.
 
Height of perches, width and wobble are all possible causes why some won't roost on them. Sleeping in nest boxes causes more work cleaning out and encourages red mite in them.
 
Chuck I fail to see how sleeping in nest boxes causes more work cleaning out, there's no more droppings than there would be if they perched, they're just in a different place. I suppose it would matter if you didn't clean the droppings out every day as I do. Why does it encourage red mite? Either you've got red mite or you haven't, if you haven't then that's great, but if you have it will be everywhere, not just in the nest boxes.
 
It is actually much faster to clean the poo from nest box as you do not have to open the cop not to mention having entering the run.Opening nest box from outside is faster all dropping in 1 spot it takes less than a minute.But I have no time to do that in the mornig and rather clean the droppings from the cop in the afternoon leaving nest boxes all nice and clean for the eggs.He is still trying to get in and I try to put him on the perch or in the corner of the cop.He will stand up antd try to get in again.Total circus,wander what the other chickens think :lol: .Eventually he will perch on the edge of nest box with bottom hanging out towards inside the cop.I know he will get in to the nest box some time during the night as still finding some dropping but at least other 2 nest boxes are clean.So I hope my ladies when get in to the lay will chose the clean one.So will give him few weeks to change if not he will make nice roast chicken :mrgreen:
 
Sue said:
Chuck I fail to see how sleeping in nest boxes causes more work cleaning out, there's no more droppings than there would be if they perched, they're just in a different place. I suppose it would matter if you didn't clean the droppings out every day as I do. Why does it encourage red mite? Either you've got red mite or you haven't, if you haven't then that's great, but if you have it will be everywhere, not just in the nest boxes.
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It useful to know how redmite find their host, through the heat from the chickens' body, so if the chickens follow the warmth of their host they will end up infesting a nest box, this is why often you will see the typical clusters of mite at the end of perches. In deep straw redmite can be a bit tricky to spot as they will hide in the hollows of the straw. It is a very good point you either have redmite or not..and just a few can lead to millions in such a short space of time :x
 
I'm actually beginning to wonder why I haven't got red mite! It seems to be such a problem and I don't understand why I haven't got it!! Don't get me wrong, I don't WANT it, but I'm starting to worry about whether I have got it, but just can't see it. Perhaps I need a visit to Specsavers!!! Could I actually be missing it? I check everwhere in the house twice a day and have also checked after dark, but can't find anything. I do use a lot of Diatom everywhere in the house/nest boxes/dust bath, but only do the birds about once a month. Don't know how I'm going to be able to do the two new arrivals as they are still very nervous and one of them screams so loudly when you try to pick her up (after dark) that I'm worried the neighbours will think someone is being murdered!!
 
I don't understand why you haven't got red mite either as the some of us seem to have enough for everybody.
I suspect there are many many keepers who don't know what they're looking for.
I look upon them as a status symbol and think that anyone without them is not really a chicken keeper ! :lol:
 
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