Perching

[DuncanZA]

I'd like to ask for some advice please. Of my four hens, two never seem to want to perch at night and are content to huddle up in the corner of the hen house or more often than not perched on the edge of the nest box which is set on the floor of the hen house. There are two perches available for the girls, set at different heights so they even have options when it comes to perching. I remember reading somewhere that one should encourage hens to perch by picking them up and placing them on the perch until they get the message and I have been doing this for months but these two don't seem to want to take any notice. I don't really mind if there's no good reason that they shouldn't. All advice gratefully received.


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[clairebear5]

I have perches inside houses and out side in runs etc at varying heights...all the girls make their minds up where they go if at all lol..funny creatures chickens are lol

 

[Marigold]

What breeds are they, Duncan? The heavier ones like Orpingtons for example often do prefer to roost on the floor because it's hard work for them to hop up on to a perch unless it's very low. It doesn't usually do them any real harm if they don't perch, but of course they are sitting in poo all night, which isn't very nice, and may stick to their feathers and cause problems if the poo is at all runny. Also they are nearer to any ammonia fumes from the poo, compared with birds higher up on the perches. If you've been doing your best by moving them for months, it looks as if they have very definite reasons for preferring the floor and there's not a lot you could do about it really.

 

[chrismahon]

We have three birds that won't perch and they are all fat Buff Orpingtons. The Blues are OK. Consequently their bottoms get dirty and have to be washed to avoid fly problems in Summer. Not a nice job- Rosie holds in the bath and I rinse and tease the poo out with my fingers. Alternative is to cut the feathers off. To avoid that can you fit some very low perches, like 6" off floor, Duncan?

 

[Sue]

Sometimes mine perch and sometimes they don't! I just let them get on with it now and do whatever they want to do. They never get dirty bottoms from sitting in poo and very rarely produce runny poo overnight. I do only have 4 hens in one house though, so I suppose if you had lots more, it would be a different matter.

 

[DuncanZA]

Thanks everyone. My four are all hybrids - I'll post some pictures when I work out how - I guess the two that don't want to perch are just plain lazy! There's no real danger in it I guess and the house is cleaned out every day and fresh bedding provided so it should be fine. Funnily enough I had to give one of them - Linda - a bath yesterday as she managed to get her lovely white feathers covered in poo. I think she quite enjoyed it, she definitely enjoyed the blow dry after her bath!


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