Chicken Gone Rogue

[DrDean]

I have a ~3.5 year old leghorn who decided to quit roosting with the other chickens in the hen house about a month ago. She hangs out with them during the day, but then disappears close to sundown. At first, she would roost on the fence, and I would catch her after sunset and put her in the hen house. She now roosts about 15 feet up in a tree, where I cannot catch her. With winter coming and below freezing temperatures at night time, I am concerned for her, not to mention the large owls we have in the area. Any suggestions?

 

[Isaac 0]

How much space do you have on your roost she could being getting bullied resulting in sleeping in a tree.If she is in the tree hurry and knock her out with a rake or ladder its a bad habit.Before they go to bed grab her and put her in and lock it up.

 

[DrDean]

The hen house is about 10' by 10' with plenty of room to roost. We had 19 hens and a rooster, but we are down to only 12 hens and the rooster now. 2 just up and died this year and a bunch have been eaten by predators. We lost none last year. I don't believe she is bullied from watching them. A coon got in the hen house one night as I went to lock it up, about 2 months ago. I ended up having to shoot it in the hen house. The leghorn started sleeping outside sometime after that.

 

[Pork Pie]

It sounds like you may have to retrain her to use the coop. Keeping her in a dog crate in the coop for a few days may help.

 

[DrDean]

Great idea! Thanks!

 

[drumstick diva]

I agree. Usually you would lock her in the coop with food & water for a few days to remind her that IS HOME. But, it's not fair to lock up the others who are coming back to roost as expected. So she would need a crate to help retrain her.

 

[drumstick diva]

I forgot you have bullying issues as well. If you know which ones bully her, I would cage them up too. That sometimes knocks them down a peg or two in pecking order, or you could get pinless peepers for the bullies. Put that in the search box to learn about them. It prevents birds from seeing straight ahead so their aim is off and also they get annoyed with it and sometimes forget about bullying period.

If nothing helps, you may want to rehome her, where she may fit in better.

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, DrDean, and

! Great to have you aboard. Hope the advice others have given works out. Best wishes and thanks for joining BYC!!

 

[DrDean]

No, she is not bullied.

 

[RodNTN]

Hi and

I'm glad you joined us! I have 8 White Leghorns, and they can be pretty independent and they almost always have the "I do everything my way" kind of attitude. And my Leghorns girls would probably try roosting in trees if the could. You have been given some great advice on how to handle it so I will just say thanks for joining BYC and best wishes!