chickens fighting over the top roost at night what do i do

[blueseal]

theres 6 rungs and they all fight for the top one. also they roost in the nestboxes at night to cant break them from it.

 

[henjoy]

Are your chickens young? They are working out their pecking order. Maybe when they were smaller they could all fit on the highest roost and now being bigger someone has to move down a rung. They will eventually sort themselves out. As for the nest boxes--when we had the same problem, we covered the nest boxes with a light tarp toward evening after everyone had laid for that day. After dark when everybody had found another place to roost we took off the tarp until the next night. It took about a week of this to break the habit of sleeping in the nest. Maybe if you repost this in the chicken behaviors section you might get more responses. Good Luck!

 

[patandchickens]

Could you add to, or rebuild, the roost so that it gives them enough space for everybody, all at the same level? That'd do it

As long as it is significantly higher than the nestbox openings and there's ample room for them to spread out on the roost, it might also help with teh roosting in nestboxes.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[namreknat]

I had the same problem until I raised all the roosts to the same height and above nestbox level. That helped considerably!

 

[scooter147]

As the old saying goes "ruler of the roost" they are trying to dominate one another or as I believe they are trying to be the one on the top so the predators get the ones on the lower rungs and leave the one who wins the top rung alone.
I agree with the above posts, put all the roosts at the same height level and lower the nest boxes.

 

[cmom]

I put milk crates in my nest boxes at night and took them out in the mornings. They eventually got the point. I let them decide who get the top roost.

 

[sillybirds]

I checked in on my coop last night and all 8 of my crazy chickens were crowded onto the top 4 foot roost. The other, 8 inch lower, but otherwise identical roost was completely empty! So much for my plans...

 

[jpfenimore]

Thanks for this thread. Our top roost is plenty long enough for all four of our 9-month-old hens, but they all still fight over it every night. I have to force myself to let them sort it out, but I still sometimes yell at them at bedtime to stop fighting! They just ignore me.

 

[MarcyG]

Thanks for this thread. Our top roost is plenty long enough for all four of our 9-month-old hens, but they all still fight over it every night. I have to force myself to let them sort it out, but I still sometimes yell at them at bedtime to stop fighting! They just ignore me.

LOL! Same here! I have two roosts, identical height, for my 6 girls. Each roost can hold 6 if they are really squeezed in together. Usually they split up 3 and 3 or 4 and 2. Yet, they can't ever seem to get settled down without jumping back and forth and changing spots, knocking each other off. One of my hens is the bully-boss and a bit of a meanie. The bickering, squawking and jostling for roost positions goes on for a good 5-10 minutes each night. Sheeesh!

 

[aart]

Yet, they can't ever seem to get settled down without jumping back and forth and changing spots, knocking each other off. One of my hens is the bully-boss and a bit of a meanie. The bickering, squawking and jostling for roost positions goes on for a good 5-10 minutes each night. Sheeesh!

Typical behavior, happens with even long established flocks.....
.....I call it the 'RoostTimeRumble'.