Chickens Refuse to use Roost?

[aart]

like maybe 3 weeks before hurricane Michael hit
so that was like September 10th?
10 5 hens (not including the three veteran hens) 5 roosters

Gonna guess you meant 10 pullets plus 3 older hens?
So there are 3 older birds? Is one of them the bully?
Were the 3 older hens living in the coop when you moved the younger ones in there?

FYI.....semantics, maybe, but can be important communication terms when discussing chicken behavior.
Female chickens are called pullets until one year of age, then they are called hens.
Male chickens are called cockerels until one year of age, then they are called cocks(or cockbirds or roosters).
Age in weeks or months is always a good thing to note.

 

[cathloveydovey]

Gonna guess you meant 10 pullets plus 3 older hens?
So there are 3 older birds? Is one of them the bully?
Were the 3 older hens living in the coop when you moved the younger ones in there?

FYI.....semantics, maybe, but can be important communication terms when discussing chicken behavior.
Female chickens are called pullets until one year of age, then they are called hens.
Male chickens are called cockerels until one year of age, then they are called cocks(or cockbirds or roosters).
Age in weeks or months is always a good thing to note.

Oh I thought it was until they were of sexual maturity they were considered hens and roosters, in that case
5 pullets 5 cockerels
10 younger chickens in general.
yes one of the 3 older birds is the bully, and yes they were living in the coop when I moved them in
I asked dad if he could find the paper but he said not today

 

[aart]

All the pullets are laying?
Pullets will start to move into the big girls pecking order once they reach sexual maturity and start laying.
The cockerels could be part of the problem, they reach 'sexual maturity' before the pullets. Meaning they want to mate but neither the hens nor pullets want anything to do with it..can cause lots of chaos and even injury.
I'd suggest you get rid of all males but maybe one, at least put them in another coop or split coop to keep them away from the females.

 

[cathloveydovey]

All the pullets are laying?
Pullets will start to move into the big girls pecking order once they reach sexual maturity and start laying.
The cockerels could be part of the problem, they reach 'sexual maturity' before the pullets. Meaning they want to mate but neither the hens nor pullets want anything to do with it..can cause lots of chaos and even injury.
I'd suggest you get rid of all males but maybe one, at least put them in another coop or split coop to keep them away from the females.

pretty sure 3 are
My dad and I are almost finished with the rooster run on the 10 acres we own so we'll move them there soon

 

[Eggscaping]

[QUOTE= Petra already went bombs away on the floor, so I want to salvage one egg today!
Ok, just needed to say that this post, and particularly the above quoted sentence, made my partner and I giggle like maniacs! "I never liked children anyway!" she giggle-snorted, speaking for Petra!" *much laughter!*

Could you maybe put something soft underneath? Piled hay? a soft net?

 

[Eggscaping]

Time for freezer camp?

 

[cathloveydovey]

Time for freezer camp?

I wish

 

[aart]

pretty sure 3 are
My dad and I are almost finished with the rooster run on the 10 acres we own so we'll move them there soon

I'll bet the chaos you're seeing will settle down, or disappear, once the pullets are all laying and males are gone.

 

[ajhaig]

To keep my hens out of an area, I put slanted wood, plastic, or metal barriers to where I don't want them to go. May be an idea you could use.

 

[cathloveydovey]

To keep my hens out of an area, I put slanted wood, plastic, or metal barriers to where I don't want them to go. May be an idea you could use.

I dont really have enough materials to do that. Im just going to deal with the annoyance for the time being until I can get rid of the bully bird.