Chickens not perching

[Chantal]

I have 3 girls, one each of Sussex Buff (large), Nankin Buff and Pekin Cuckoo (bantams) who are now 6 months old. They all lay eggs, are happy and healthy and love to sit on low and high perchs outside. However at night they all pile up in a heap in the corner of the shed in the straw and sleep there. Their perch is 18" high (recommended height) and is clean of mites etc. Any ideas anyone? I've had chickens of varying sorts for 10 years and have never come across this behaviour before.

[Diane]

Mine don't perch either. They have the proper perches (as you have) but still prefer to bundle in together in the nest box. I used to diligently go out, after dark, and gently place them on their perches (like wot it says in the book!) but although they stayed on them for that particular night by the following night they'd all be back in the nest box. I've even tried shutting off the nest box with a partition, but they just all barged it down and sat there defiantly clucking! The previous chooks I had preferred the perches - just goes to show they have a mind of their own. I've given in now and just leave them to it. I know my place

[Chantal]

Thanks, I'm glad I'm not alone, I thought maybe I had retarded chickens. My last chicks were a pair of Red Jungle Fowl who one day decided not to go to bed in their shed and spent the next three years living loose in my garden, with the nights spent 40 feet up a fir tree. Following a serious fox assault I bagged them and moved them into their run again but I guess I'm so used to chickens that perch it's a worry when they don't.

[sue-the-recycler]

Your not alone here Chantal. I have 6 hybrid layers and only 3 of them perch at night. I suspect the pecking order has some part to play in my coop. My 2 White Stars have always been top of the order and always take up their positions first at roosting time. My Starlights are bottom of the order and are rarely on the perch. I have more than the recomended spacings etc and have just come to the conclusion thats the way it is. They are all happy, healthy and laying and although I do make a little more effort to keep the house floor cleaner under the circumstances, I have gone past worrying about it.

[Sue]

Our first chickens were hybrid layers raised by a commercial breeder and they never perched despite us trying the book advice for weeks at a time.

Our latest lot are bantams raised by a private breeder who uses his own broodies to hatch and they have always perched. He reckons that if the chicks are raised in an incubator without a mother hen, they are more than likely not to ever learn that perching is what you do at night and it's pretty much a lost cause to try and re-educate your chickens otherwise. If you put them on a perch after dark, they will stay there all night because they go into a coma like state anyway, but by next evening there is no way they are going to remember and will revert to their usual routine.

Chickens - lovable but dim.

[sue-the-recycler]

Just had another thought...my hen house is raised about 2 foot off the ground, they go up a plank to get in to the house so maybe they just think they are already high enough and dont bother with the perch - is your house ground level?

[Chantal]

Hi Sue-the-recycler

My henhouse is a garden shed which stands on bricks so they do go up a ramp, although to be fair they could hop in without one. Because they happily perch 3ft off the ground when they're outside I'm not sure your theory would work, but who knows, chickens are not the brightest birds around.

Regarding your theory Sue, my birds came from the Wernlas Collection and I think were incubator chicks so as you say, they may never learn. I spoke to Wernlas about them not perching and they said they should and said there must be something wrong with the perch. I've followed their advice but no joy.

I think I'll just accept they're into a proper bed and shared bodily warmth!

Thanks for all your suggestions guys.

[Loz]

Some birds will not perch despite your best efforts! It does depend on how they were raised, and believe me, if they want to perch they will, regardless of the type of perch.
You can try picking them up at night and placing them on, they may get the hang of it.
The only problem that non perching birds may cause is poo on their bums and broken eggs if you don't get them out. Young birds may develop a kink in their breast bone, but unless you are exhibiting or breeding, this will not cause a problem

Loz

[sue-the-recycler]

I have no doubt that my perches are as 'per regultion' so to speak - The house came from a popular and well known coop builder and they fit the recomended spec in all the popular books. All my birds came from the same breeder so it cant be about how they were raised as they were all raised the same way and with more thought I think the height of the house from the ground is a red herring so that just leaves the pecking order - and my observations would suggest that its the dominant birds that get the perch and the others try their luck on the perch but are not up to a fight about it..like I said, they are all healthy and laying so seems little point getting concered. But at the end of the day, no - they are not exactly up to the national average IQ me thinks

[Chantal]

I only have three chickens and they ALL sit together on the floor. Can't be pecking order with my bunch. I'll just accept that they're not very bright.