Not roosting in Coop

[cdaubert82]

I have a barred rock hen (approx 19 weeks old now,that we got with 3 other hatch-lings back in the spring) that refuses to sleep in the coop. When we introduced them to other chickens after a long we did the normal - put them in the coop at night a few times so they will learn where to roost, but this little lady refuses to go in on her own. The other new hens have gone in the coop and adjusted fine. Now we have to go out every night and remove her from the roof of the coop and place her inside. In addition to not sleeping there she's started laying- out side the coop of course
We've always had around a dozen in our flock- and they have managed well in the coop. It's just under 30 sq feet. We have a large run area.
Suggestions please on how to break this habit.

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings and welcome to BYC from NE TX! So glad you joined us. I hope you'll consider taking a minute to visit the new member's thread and introduce yourself so folks can welcome you properly. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/new-member-introductions.44/ It could be any number of possible issues that make her want to stay outside. Maybe too hot inside, possibly lack of adequate ventilation, poss too crowded on/off the roosts and she's being picked on. Short of locking her inside the coop for up to a week so she learns that's "home", there's little you can do if she doesn't want to go in on her own.

Just as an aside, you said the coop has 30 sqft... and you have a dozen birds... Coop square footage is best at 4sqft/bird (or more) of open floor space for large fowl (LF) birds. You speak of a BR so not sure if the rest are LF's or bantams. Bantams can do with less space of course. Also, you should have 12"+ (18" is far better if it gets hot where you are) of roost space per bird. Chickens wear down jackets year round and generate a LOT of heat. Think self heating sardines, packed in a can.

There's a wealth of info, knowledge and experience shared in the multitude of threads. Browse around and see what interesting stuff you can find. By all means post away when the desire strikes you, especially if you have questions (provide as much detail/info as possible and pictures truly help)... With all the great folks here, generally someone will respond in no time at all. Please make yourself at home!

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[Ridgerunner]

Which habit do you want to break? Probably both.

As far as sleeping in the coop. Just because it has worked in the past doesn't mean it will work this time, at least not the same. One thing different this time is that you have different chickens. Each one has its own personality and each flock has its own dynamics. Those dynamics can change with one individual. You are also at the cusp where maturity can make a big difference. That pullet is most likely not mature enough to feel comfortable with the older chickens. It's not just age but actual level of maturity. The other pullets could be more mature.

So what can you do? Same as you have been doing, just keep putting her in at night. I go through that with mine but under different circumstances. At some point it will either click and she will go in on her own or she will hit that maturity level where she goes in on her own. I can't tell you if that will be tonight or weeks from now though.

Part of that could be that she does not have a roosting spot that is far enough away from the adults to be comfortable. It's part of maturity, she wants to roost but is afraid of the adults. If you do get her to roost inside she may wind up in a nest. Might, not necessarily will. I solved that problem by putting up an additional roost, higher than the nests but lower than the main roosts and horizontally separated. I don't know if you have room in your coop or not.

Normally with mine they hit the needed level of maturity within a few weeks of starting to lay. Sometimes that is really quickly after they start but it has taken a few weeks occasionally. Since she is laying I don't think it will be long.

To me the egg laying outside is challenging. But let me ask a question. Is she laying in the same spot each day or is it dropped randomly? Usually a pullet has control over the egg laying process and will pick out a nest to lay her egg in right from the start. But some don't have control over the process for a while and can can drop an egg wherever they happen to be. That's why it is not that unusual for a pullet to drop her first eggs from the roosts or just randomly scattered. But if the egg is in the same spot each day, especially if she has scooped out a depression, she has decided she wants to lay there. So if it is random, not a cause for concern. If it is steady, yeah, a different story.

Your coop is too small to lock all your hens in there for a few days to retrain her to at least lay in the coop. You don't want to train your other hens to not lay in the coop so you can't lock them out. If she is laying outside the run maybe you could lock them all in the run for a week to try to retrain her.

I made a couple of my nests so I could lock a hen in if I wished. That has come in handy for a few different things. When I have a hen laying somewhere I don't want her to, I lock her in a nest when I catch her on her nest on the coop floor or wherever that might be. It's not always that easy to catch her on the nest laying an egg. Sometimes I can just pick them up and lock them in the nest but sometimes that involves a fish net. I leave her locked in that nest until she lays her egg. That usually takes a half hour but had one go as long as three hours before she laid her egg. Usually I just have to do that once to get them to switch but that three hour hen took a second time.

These are the only methods I've had success with, locking them all in the coop/run when one was laying elsewhere or locking them in the nest until they laid. Luckily I'm retired so I can usually be around all day every day to catch them laying. Hopefully someone else will chime in with other tricks they've used.

Good luck!