One lone chicken roosting in tree

[someplumbcoop]

Recently one of my chickens has decided to not go in the coop with the rest of the flock but to roost in a tree near the coop. I live in North Carolina so the winter is not too bad, but it still gets really cold. Will she be alright by herself? Should I make her go in the coop?

 

[Kevin565]

You should try to get her into the coop. There are alot of predators in the night. There is always a chance that being left out one night could get her injured or killed. You can try to lure her with some food or wait till it's dark to grab her out of the tree.

 

[CMV]

Quote:
Agree 100%. It is just bad policy to leave birds out at night.

Birds are useless once the sun goes down, so they have no way to defend themselves or flee from danger should it appear. If you don't care too much about losing her, then let her be. But if you value her as part of the flock then haul her butt inside and make her roost in safety.

Good luck.

 

[EmAbTo48]

3 of my laying hens did this, they just stopped going in the coop, I waited till dark kept picking them up and putting them in the coop did this for 2 weeks straight and then they just started going back in the coop!

Know idea what was going on but haven't had them do it for 2 years now!

 

[sourland]

Weather wise she will be fine, but she is a prime target for a GHO.

 

[flowerchild59]

A few years ago, my whole flock was wiped out by a coon in the middle of the night. The lone survivor was a roo who had escaped a few days earlier and was roosting in a tree. He continued to live by himself for about 4 years, he hung out by the barn with the horses, came up to the house for a toss of dog food and lived the high life. He always roosted in a tree even during the winter. He finally met his maker when he was struck by a car crossing the proverbial road.

 

[Tala]

Weather wise she'll be fine, but raccoons climb trees.
I used to let my free range bachelor roosters sleep on top of the hen coop. Surprisingly, no owls got them even though I hear them all the time. It was dogs that finally did get them, in the daytime.
Still, hens aren't allowed to roost outside because of predators. I get them after dark and put them back inside. I'm lazy and refuse to do this every night, so if one starts going rogue they all loose their free range privileges for a couple weeks of "retraining"

 

[OnceAroundTheBlock]

My daughter has a rooster up at their house that decided to start sleeping in a tree instead of the coop with the rest of the chickens. They decided to let him be and he was fine for about a month.

One morning when they found him, his leg was broken up near his feathers making his leg useless. I thought maybe during the night an owl had tried to get him and while trying to escape his leg got caught in the crouch of a branch and snapped his leg. Anyway, his leg is now splinted and taped and he is starting to hop on it a little but mostly he'll just set it down and use it for balance. It's been on for 2 weeks now and they are planning on taking off the splint in a day or two.

He'll probably survive but I'm pretty sure his flogging days are over. Which is probably a good thing because he's flogged us all.....

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