Upstairs Downstairs chicks

Ontario Chick · Post by **Ontario Chick** » Wed Jul 06, 2016 11:03 pm

Musical chicks here, 5 weeks old from the brooder on the floor, 10 days old from the basement in to the brooder.

Upstairs

Downstairs

And seriously, can anybody explain this one? 16 Ameraucanas on one roost settled for the night, 4 Wyandottes left to fend for themselves.
There are two other roosts empty, but apparently inferior, bur really, how can they tell the difference?
They shared an incubator and a brooder but no way are they going to share the "best" roost.

redninja · Post by **redninja** » Wed Jul 06, 2016 11:43 pm

Beautiful birds OC. Haha, chickens are funny! My early June hatch is just like that. Had to put another roost above the first for the 7 smallest birds. Wouldn't roost with their hatch mates.

Maximus · Post by **Maximus** » Thu Jul 07, 2016 7:33 am

Lovely birdsOC!

Chickens are very smart. I am reminded of this each day My chicks, a little while ago, were moved into the main coop. They wanted in the rafters which is the big girls spot. There was some rough evenings for a few nights, but the chicks figured out if they go to bed earlier they get the rafters and the girls just stay on the roost. The teenagers go at least 30 minutes to bed before the adults. Now that the teens are getting bigger they're having trouble all fitting in the rafters so I put some 2x2 across them to kind of join each rafter and they looked at me last night like 'now you're talking'. But the adults are still on the roost.

Ontario Chick · Post by **Ontario Chick** » Thu Jul 07, 2016 10:11 am

Well, I hope the Wyandottes break down and start using the second roost soon, because right now in an effort to sleep as close as possible to the "main flock" they are hunkering down on the ground right under the roosting birds, that's not going to turn out well.

Somebody, will have to give up the "best' roost soon anyway, because it's not going to fit 16 for very long anyway :)

Post by **WLLady** » Thu Jul 07, 2016 11:02 am

my grow out coop last week was RIR girls on the roost, and ameraucanas on the lids of the feed bins and the easter eggers on the shelf. this week its RIR girls (older than the rest) on the shelf, the boys on the feed bins and all the other girls on the roost. no exceptions! LOL.
and they'll line up with all the wheatens in a row, all the welbars, and all the rhodebars....separated into breed, even the silver welbars sit with the silver welbars! LOL.

beautiful birds OC, and an awesome set up too!

windwalkingwolf · Post by **windwalkingwolf** » Fri Jul 08, 2016 2:21 am

Besides the fact that the lightest weight birds with larger wings will get the highest roost (safest from predators) first, there's another consideration--amount of feathered chicks in the room. With only two breeds of differently-weighted and feathered chicks in the room (and not all that many at that), the wyandottes have no real impetus to get on the roosts. And their deep-keeled shape makes it a bit annoying to try, in any case, if my handful of Orpingtons is any indication...last to roost, and then the highest points are taken so most don't bother at all. Ameraucanas are better flyers all around, and so get the best spots right off the bat, and then the heavier bodied chicks just seem to say to heck with it and sleep on the floor. I'm seeing it with my hatchery Anconas, SPitzhauben and Dorkings as well-- the long, thin Anconas and Spitz roost up high, and the round Dorkings try to get up there at the same time, but if they fail, instead of staying on a lower step or roost (if they bothered to get there before the higher one), just huddle on the floor. However, with many different breeds and sizes of chicks in the same room, it's more of a crapshoot who gets to the highest roost and whether or not they sit on a lower one, and more of a mix that remains on the floor. Moral of the thesis is that you need more chicks LOL

Ontario Chick · Post by **Ontario Chick** » Fri Jul 08, 2016 9:45 am

I knew there was a moral to the thesis, couldn't wait to get to the end of your post To find out what it was

I realize that the Ameraucanas are much more likely to fly then the Wyandottes, but it's a bit disconcerting to see them divided by Breed and color.
But how do you explain Kathy's Wheatens and welbars sticking together?
How can they tell?

Chasinthedream · Post by **Chasinthedream** » Fri Jul 08, 2016 11:55 am

It's racism and segregation all over again.

Ontario Chick · Post by **Ontario Chick** » Fri Jul 08, 2016 12:19 pm

I knew there was a logical explanation