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Hi all

I have just got a couple of ex battery hens. I have made them a well ventilated house out of an old freezer (which has all the gas removed).

I have made them a laying box at the back which is about 35 cm high and 40cm square. I have put a hard boiled egg in it to help them get the idea.

I have made them a perch in the middle part of the house. the perch is about 28cm from the floor. Currently the hens completely ignore both the perch and the laying box.

Is the perch too high? Or will they eventually get the idea?

Thanks

Sam

I'm no expert but that does sound a little high. The perch in my coop is just two inches of the floor, with a layer of straw underneath..it helps keep them warm in cold weather and makes cleaning a ton easier!
Hope that helps.

Same here. My perch is about 3 inches up and then they are tiered up to about 2 feet.

If they are battery hens they probably just don't get the concept anyway. My hens weren't battery but had been kept in cramped conditions. I had made lovely perches for them and had left an old chair in the shed just in case they needed more space. All six huddled in the space under the chair for the first 2 weeks!!
Give them time and they should get the hang of it. I'd probably lower the perch though just in case it is too high.

Good luck with them,
Siena

They probably ignore it because they want you to own them not just have them on Higher Perches!

Wah, wah, waaaah..... Oh you are awful Milims...

I thought that you needed a perch about a chicken hieght off the floor... I have built my chicken house but it is still empty

I can only speak for myself but I notice that my silkie hen would have difficulty getting up to a perch that was even chicken height from the floor as she can't fly at all but all my other hens (sussex and sussex x RIR) would get on it no problem so it probable depends on the breed too.

Milims wrote:They probably ignore it because they want you to own them not just have them on Higher Perches!

hang your head in shame!!!

My chooks have two perches one around 3" above straw level and one about 1.5ft above straw level they nearly always use the top one, no idea how they get up there though always in bed early!
Your chooks if they are exbattery may not have had a perch and therefore may nor know what its for, give them a bit of time.

How strange! I just managed to add emoticons to Pumpys post instead of it being my own! So please read the as mine and not pumpys!

Phew! I thought i was going ga-ga as i didn't remember putting them on!

You hit 'edit' instead of 'quote'.... I don't know.... they give Admin functions to anyone these days

Thanks for the replies everyone..

The hens have now got the hang of the perch, and the nest box..

So it seems 28cm is fine for larger hens.

Thanks all

Sam

Could you post a picture of your freezer coop for me?

Pete

My perch is about 35cm off the floor and the girls have no probs hopping up and down off there. In fact they do it often when they are playing musical perches before going to sleep - constant changing of positions - I want to be by the wall, no budge over, I want to be in the middle.....

My perch is about 4ft off the floor although there is a shelf for them to jump up onto first. They tend to ignore this and fly straight up onto the perch. Some breeds can fly really well and some just can't get off the ground. My black pekin bantams can't jump more than a couple of inches but my neighbours light brown bantam (can't remember the breed) flew straight up on my roof just before Christmas and then soared off down the road with the doves. She soon came back though when she got hungry.

Zoe