Acting weird about the coop.

[wvWyandotte]

I need some help guys! I have 3 girls, 2 are 8yrs old & the other 1 1/2yrs. Same coop since all were hatched. About 6 mths ago my neighbors started feeding them at the edge of their yard multiple times daily. To the point I had to ask them to stop because they weren’t coming to roost at night. In between I had an old rooster pass away one night in the coop. My girls are acting like the coop and run are hot lava! They won’t step in unless made to and when they do afterward they won’t come out!
Any advice?

 

[azygous]

I am going to assume this issue has cropped up directly following the rooster's sudden death. When chickens witness the death of a flock member in the close confines of their coop with the attendant death throes, wing flapping and body flopping, it can be very frightening and disturbing.

This happened a few years ago in my flock when one pullet out of four four-month olds suddenly died following exposure to a toxic substance. The other three youngsters were loathe to go into their coop to roost that night after their mate had died early that morning.

What I did was to physically put them into the coop, then put them on the perch all the while talking quietly and soothingly to them. They were still in panic mode so I placed my hands gently on their backs and calmed them down. I stayed with them until they showed no further signs of trauma. That's all it took, and they were back to accepting the coop.

 

[wvWyandotte]

I was assuming the same, but why do you think they won’t come out now?

 

[azygous]

They're still traumatized and confused and trying to find what's familiar. Try to get them to go out of the coop and encourage them to resume normal behavior.

It's the same way we deal with traumatized humans. We encourage them to get back to doing normal things as soon as possible to avoid changing to neurotic .behavior patterns.

 

[aart]

About 6 mths ago my neighbors started feeding them at the edge of their yard multiple times daily. To the point I had to ask them to stop because they weren’t coming to roost at night. In between I had an old rooster pass away one night in the coop. My girls are acting like the coop and run are hot lava! They won’t step in unless made to and when they do afterward they won’t come out!

So did the neighbor feeding stop 5 months ago....or...?
When did the cockbirds death happen...during the feeding or after or...?