Chook Me!

Do chickens need to have perches inside their coop?

Eglu has a cool but expensive coop for sale but no perches .... is this a problem? Also, I'm planning on starting w/ baby chicks but was wondering, what do people do with any extra roosters they don't want...any suggestions?

Public Comments

1. There are no perches in chicken coops !
2. Chickens need perches. Not only is it the natural way for a chicken to roost, but it will keep the chicken clean. And people generally eat the extra roosters... (If you don't want to do this, look for a breeder in your area. They'll sex the chicks for you.)
3. chicken dosenot need perches beacuse they are chicken but if you want to keep them clean u can use perches
4. Yes chickens need perches, their feet get deformed if they roost in the nest boxes. Also being a prey animal they feel less stressed off the ground. They are descended from Jungle Fowl originally and they roost high in trees. Escaped chickens always roost up in trees. You can wedge stout branches in, doesn't have to be anything fancy as long as their feet can grip around it, broom handle diameter is best. I breed chickens (15 hens, 3 roosters and 3 chicks hatched last Friday under a broody hen). I try to sell surplus birds at local poultry fairs but you have to be realistic. If at 6 months of age I have spare roosters my partner humanely dispatches them and we eat them. Free range birds taste much better than supermarket intensively reared ones. If I give them away someone else has a free dinner, I've put all the hard work in so why shouldn't my family and I benefit? I don't feel bad about this, they have a great life. Better to live for 6 months free ranging outside with other chickens than 6 weeks in a huge thermostatically controlled shed with 10,000 other chickens awaiting slaughter day. If you cannot bring yourself to do this you are better buying older Point of Lay pullets which are definitely female. This also saves having to buy chick food and keep them indoors during bad weather. POL pullets are around 15 weeks old usually. Roosters often fight and obviously don't lay eggs. You do not need a rooster for the hens to lay, they lay regardless. If you buy young chicks you risk an unscrupulous breeder selling you young roosters to get rid of stock on someone who doesn't know the difference.
5. Yes to rest on and sleep and to be off the ground floor and away from their waste also to see farther off when day light they like the higher spots.
6. Yes, chickens need perches. In fact, many breeds sleep while balancing on their perch, and it is an important part of keeping your chickens healthy.