Cochins won't go up ramp or roost!

[kipper]

We have three Giant Blue Cochin pullets that will go down the ramp from their coop but not up! They wait happily for my husband to pick them up (all three at once) and put them back in each evening. They will roost on the "practice roosts" that are two inches off the coop floor, but not on the roost that is less than two feet up.

These girls are now almost 5 months old and live in their own coop and run. We are thinking of having two of our easy-going Ameraucana pullets (6 months old) room with them for a while to show them the ropes. We also plan to add more treads to the ramp and run a trail of feed up it.

Is it normal for cochins not to use the roost? Is it because they are so docile? Are they usually timid about trying new things?

 

[kennedyscochins]

It took a long time for mine to learn to go in the coop. They also waited for me to put them in at night! But, after picking them up and putting them in many, many nights in a row, I learned to actually put them on the ramp and let them walk up it themselves. Now, most of them put themselves up at night. I still have two that are probably about 5 months that won't go in by themselves. Most of mine don't use the roost either. They just lay on the coop floor together!

 

[kipper]

That is so funny! They actually stand in a huddle waiting for my husband to pick them up each night. We are going to put the Hansel and Gretel crumb trail out today and see what happens.

 

[kipper]

Hansel and Gretel update:

I put crumbs on the ramp and put a bird at the bottom, it ate it's way up and them promptly ran down the ramp. Ditto for the second bird I tried this with. As usual, once dusk came, the girls were waiting to be put inside. Oh well, it's was worth a try. Maybe Cochins get braver as they mature?

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Haha, what funny characters! I have a silkie hen and a silkie/d'uccle mix hen who for some reason don't go in the henhouse with the others at night. The silkie roosts on a stick that I put in the coop for the chickens to play on, and the mix sleeps either on top of a fence in the coop or on a water dish. I wish they would be a little more normal and go in on their own, but I suppose it just gives them character!

 

[kipper]

These cochins are the sweetest pullets! We really like them despite their goofy behavior!

 

[Soccer Mom]

Mine hop in and out of the little pop door all day, but when it comes to going in for the night, they refuse. They want to go in the big people sized door with me.

Yup. Every night they cluster around the human door and wait to be let in, even though they could simply go in the pop door just to their right.

Silly birds!

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Quote:
It's the same with my two silly birds.

I love them! The silkie/d'uccle mix once spent a year and a half in our laundry room trying to hatch imaginary eggs. If you took her out of the laundry room, she would attack our dog (who was afraid of her) until you let her back in. She's a very oddball bird, but we've had her for over ten years now and she's a legend amongst my friends and I. Her behavior often warrants confusion.

 

[usschicago1]

Had the same problem
Easy Solution:
Put them on roost every night for a few weeks until one starts to go up themselves. Then the rest will follow suite. DONT GIVE UP. It will work

 

[vstoltzfus]

When I first started with chickens, I would put my hens in the hen house each night. My thinking was, "It's dusk, they're not going in, I need to help them." Then one night I was distracted with some guests, and didn't go down to the henhouse at my usual time, but about an hour later. Guess what! All of the chickens had gone into the henhouse on their own. As far as using the roosts, it took my girls a LONG time to learn to use them. At first they just piled up on the floor, then they moved to the nesting boxes, and eventually each one found here way to the roost. They're slow learners!