Hi from Ontario, Canada

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ChickNCoop

ChickNCoop

Chirping
5 Years
Oct 23, 2016
17
5
72
Hi! So happy to be here "officially". I've been following this website and spent hours reading advice and comments over the last year. We started our coop in May with the intention of having 6 BR, guilty of "chicken math", we now have a mixed flock of 21 including 4 unexpected very special and handsome roosters
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We also have 2 Toulouse geese, 2 rescue cats, a rotti, and a rescue bulldog mix. I have 2 little people (4&3) who are the most helpful lil chicken ranchers. Most of the advice I've been seeking is about my Polish hen. She has me so confused. Really looking forward to some good advice from anyone with a "weirdo" chicken who just steps to the beat of her very own drum
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And... I didn't ask my question
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So my Polish has never put herself in the coop at night, she is our only chicken who doesn't follow the "routine". During the summer months it wasn't the end of the world because it was warm outside, now I'm worried she will freeze over the winter on the nights I'm not home to put her away. I can't seem to figure out a way to motivate her to put herself away with the rest of the flock. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. I've tried keeping the light on in the coop so she could find her own way in, I've tried going out every night and putting her away, I thought maybe she was waiting for me to put her away so I recently stopped putting her away, and there she sits in the dark by herself in the run
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Welcome to BYC! It's great to have you.

Polish in particular seem to be pesky about this. My recommendation would be to lock her in the coop for several days to see if that improves the behavior. Also, remove, cover, and otherwise make inaccessible the areas she likes to roost outdoors.
 
Thanks for help! Definitely going to give that a try. In fact I think your onto something for sure. She has a roost in the run and she is in the exact same spot every night. I will remove that roost tomorrow and keep her in the coop and try to break this habit of hers. Much appreciated!!
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QueenMisha said:
Welcome to BYC! It's great to have you.

Polish in particular seem to be pesky about this. My recommendation would be to lock her in the coop for several days to see if that improves the behavior. Also, remove, cover, and otherwise make inaccessible the areas she likes to roost outdoors.
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I concur with this advice. She's in the habit of sleeping out. You need to help her get into the habit of sleeping in. Best wishes and :welcome.
 
Polish(and silkies) tend to get picked on by other breeds because they look so different. Is it possible they are bothering her in the coop/ roost at night? That maybe why she doesn't want to go inside.
 
Forgot to mention you may like to visit "Canadians, check in here." for folks in Canada. Put that in the search box and it will pop up.
 

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