2 of 6 chickens will not go into the hen house at night

[bonzomom]

Hi,
I have 6 chickens that are 6 to 7 mons. old. When we first got them they all went into the house at night to roost. Now I have 2 of the 6 that will not go in a night to roost. The 2 of them huddle together outside in the run. They will go into the hen house to lay and they all are laying great. Can someone please tell me what to do. Right now it is not so bad, but i am afraid they will do this in the winter months and will freeze. The other 4 girls do go in at night and get on the roost. What is up with the other 2. Please help with this little problem. Thanks bec

 

[Lifetime chicken lover]

Sometimes they'll do this if there isn't enough room on the roost. I've seen crowded roosts, and they pick on each other if they are too close. My rooster does this sometimes, despite having enough room. If you figure out why, let us know.

 

[LindenLiving]

They are probably on the low end of the pecking order and the roost may be too crowded. Check to see if you have enough room for all six to perch and still have some personal space. According to Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, you should have 8 inches of perching space per chicken and at least 10 inches for larger breeds. Hope this helps.

 

[bonzomom]

Thanks everyone for the info, but yes we do have plenty of room our coop is 4 ft wide and we have two roosts you could add at least 6 more chickens to the hen house and still have room. Since Friday we have had to but the 2 girls in, we are now putting them onto the roost and they stay there all night. But if we do not do this then they will not go in at all. We do not have a Rooster just 6 little girls. Any more suggestions would be helpful at this point. I have not seen any signs of them being picked on but of coarse I am not in the hen house all night. Thanks again, Bec

 

[bonzomom]

Help help it is pouring rain and my 2 little girls are setting out in the run in the corner of the run in the rain. They will not go into the coop to roost so we have been placing them on the roost. at night for two weeks. And they will not go in unless we put the on the roost. So the last couple of nights I said lets see what they do and they still will not go in on there own. And now they are setting out in the rain. Cam some one please tell me what to do..... Thx Bec

 

[secuono]

Do they feel thin when you pick them up? Are they possibly having a hard time going up the ramp or the roost? Is there good circulation?
I have chicks and older juvies who could be roosting, but sometimes stay outside. But I chase them in[never pick them up and place them] and after the first day or two, they go back to sleeping indoors. Idk if it's cus I scare them like I'm a predator and they get that they will be eaten or not, but it works...
If nothing works, you may have to scare them in every night before it gets dark and lock em up. Or maybe the cold will convince them to go in.

 

[Snack Giver]

Please keep putting them in the coop at night!

 

[Capvin]

For whatever reason they seem to have reverted back a bit so I think that you should go out there every night after dark and physically put them inside the coop. You will need to keep doing this until they have relearned the drill that the coop is their safe home after dark. Once it gets too dark and they have not gone in on their own they will stay where they are as chickens do not like to move around in the dark. Just keep putting them in and I think that eventually they will begin again to do it by themselves.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

I have a 'cage' built around the roosts for the roosters/ and bigger dominent birds that will definetly pick on the smaller ones in the am, and since, no way am I going out there early, could this be what is happening? At first the roos wouldnt let some birds into the coop, now they know their place and go to it and stay there. (there was some perch changing going on as well). I also have different size perches for some.
The predator scare might work too, it actually happened for me at 2 am when an owl killed one of 5 that refused to leave their tree roost, the remaining came running to me and I put them in the coop where they have gone ever since, first ones in too.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Put them in the coop every single night, don't let them sleep in the run. Something will come along and pull their head's through the fence..I dunno how many times thats happened to me. ~ Aspen