All of a sudden no one roosting?

[Harmoni]

I have 2 rirs that have been laying for close to 3 months. I have 2 golden comets that are approaching lay (15 weeks old). There have been some squabbling but nothing severe.
Tonight when I went to close up the coop, the 2 reds were in front of the nest boxes. I moved them to the roost to find the 2 comets squeezed into one box that the reds were in front of.
Is this some sort of bullying? A sign of sickness? One of them has been having a single daily watery bowel movement which I attributed to too much alfalfa.
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[sloanbychoice]

Without having seen it, I would say it’s likely one of two things, depending on how close to dark it was...
There was bullying or a disagreement about nests..
There is a mite issue on the roosts...

If it was close enough to dusk that they would normally have been roosting, then it could be roost mites. When a flock suddenly doesn’t want to roost, it’s often because the mites are feeding on them at night.
Check them for evidence of mites, and wipe a clean paper towel along the roost, particularly the underside, and see if there are any red smears.
If it wasn’t quite time for bed yet, it could have been an argument.

Keep an eye on them to see how they behave toward each other for a while to see if they’re having some disagreements regarding territory.

 

[aart]

Pics of your coop and roosts might help here.

Agrees to check for bugs.
My Bug Check notes:
Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?

Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008

 

[Harmoni]

I did a quick check for mites and didn't see any. I wiped the underside of the roosts and did a quick check of one bird. I'll check more thoroughly when I have a 2nd set of hands.
We're having messy butt issues again with 2 of the 4 and the same 2 a before.

 

[citymeetscountry]

I’m having a similar issue but haven’t seen signs of mites either. I’ve checked all their vents after dark (which they hated!) and I’ve rubbed the roost with paper. Only 1 of 4 pullets is roosting from what I can tell. When I go to close them up at night 1 leg horn is on the roost, the BR and AB are sitting on the coop floor right by the door and the other LH is on top the pop door so she then squats and I “shove” her in the door and she takes a spot on the floor with the other 2.

But now that I’m writing this out I realized we recently started putting an outside light on so it’s possible mine are trying to avoid the light coming in

 

[aart]

I did a quick check for mites and didn't see any. I wiped the underside of the roosts and did a quick check of one bird. I'll check more thoroughly when I have a 2nd set of hands.

Do it at night well after dark to check for roost mites.

We're having messy butt issues again with 2 of the 4 and the same 2 a before.

What all and how exactly are you feeding?
Did you get these birds all at the same time?

When I have a bird acting 'off' I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor
-their intake of food and water,
-crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed),
-and their poops.
Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling. Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.

Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

 

[Harmoni]

I’m having a similar issue but haven’t seen signs of mites either. I’ve checked all their vents after dark (which they hated!) and I’ve rubbed the roost with paper. Only 1 of 4 pullets is roosting from what I can tell. When I go to close them up at night 1 leg horn is on the roost, the BR and AB are sitting on the coop floor right by the door and the other LH is on top the pop door so she then squats and I “shove” her in the door and she takes a spot on the floor with the other 2.

But now that I’m writing this out I realized we recently started putting an outside light on so it’s possible mine are trying to avoid the light coming in

Mine are attracted to the light lol. That's how I got the comets to roost after I moved the reds out of the way. I shined a flashlight on the roost and the walked over to it.

 

[Harmoni]

Do it at night well after dark to check for roost mites.

What all and how exactly are you feeding?
Did you get these birds all at the same time?

When I have a bird acting 'off' I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor
-their intake of food and water,
-crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed),
-and their poops.
Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling. Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.

Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

The reds came from the same place at the same time. They had poopy butts from day 1 which was 3 months ago. I trimmed butt feathers and that cleared it up for the most part. But now is building up again. They get nutrena naturewise chick starter/grower (I switched from country road layer feed when we intergrated the younger 2 about 2 months ago) in hanging feeders, available at all times. A dish of oyster shells and egg shells. They get 1 treat in the morining of pecking order forager blend.
I accidentally bought alfalfa hay when I was looking for a hay for the nesting boxes. The bale of hay is spread out in their daytime run. I am wondering if they are eating too much of it.
I know where each chicken roosts so it is easy to view nighttime poop which all looks normal.
Other than the weird behavior last night, they have all been acting fine.
We did have a thunderstorm at dusk last night, so I'm not sure if that was a factor too.

 

[canne50]

Too hot and stuffy up there? More ventilation?
Best to you.Regards…