Evening Coop Drama with 11 hens

[rosemarythyme]

That sounds like a cage farm chicken setup. Just thinking out loud.

Yes (and in my area the 1 st ft per bird requirement is to allow for commercial operations). But I've seen posts from a few people in the past that their area requires minimum 1 sq ft in coop plus additional X sq ft outside space - the 3x5 coop in that case would not meet those minimal numbers.

 

[Poultry mum]

Adventure Chicken will not roost with Lottie. Macaroon will only roost with Lottie, but never next to Dunkin'. Fifi will only roost next to Mystery Chicken or Wiccan but never next to the 2 Cinnamon Queens. Xena will roost next to the Cinnamon Queens but not Adventure Chicken. Chicken Helper doesn't want to roost next to anyone. Period.

All of this means that I am going into the coop every, single, night and rearranging chickens. Some are on the floor because of the pecking and otherwise high drama behavior. Once I put them next to their preferred roosting mate, we have peace in the coop. How big is the coop you may ask, it's big enough for 20 chickens. It's 5 feet long by 3 feet wide. I have 3 sets of roosting bars. But I have a coop full of drama queens. Seriously, pick a roosting spot and settle in. Gee whiz.

I am wondering if I stop rearranging them if they will figure all this out my themselves? I am reluctant to allow the chickens to stay on the floor when there are perfectly good roosting bars to use (not to mention I don't want them pooped on). Anyone have any idea on how to stop the nightly coop drama? Or should I just ignore it? Thank you in advance - Anne and the Ocala Chickens

I’m going to play devils advocate here and say…
Chickens are like children… we all know this… when you have a few kids sharing a room (like when going on vacation) they tend to fight and argument until mum comes in and sorts it out…
Let the girls sort it out.. pop them to bed and walk away… if one or two decides they want to sleep on the floor let them.. it won’t hurt them for one night …

As for the coop size personally I don’t think it’s too small.. however it depends on the size of the hens… if you have bantams/true bantams for instance then that’s more than enough room..
however if their big enough to call “real chickens” standards or bigger then MAYBE they may be a little cramped I would consider maybe getting a smaller coop just for 3-4 girls that seem to be the queen hens and separate them see if that works?

 

[Jenni Hen]

A very good point. When I was a kid there we didn't have the option of prefab coops, just had the books you buy at the farm stores or check out from the library. Internet was around but not widely used to buy things or research information until I was a young teen.

I feel like sometimes it's easier to fing d misinformation than it is to find valuable information.

Yes! I've spent hours and hours and hours diligently digesting misinformation about chickens coops and runs. And so many products are not fit for purpose. If you're new to chickens it's a nightmare. Fortunately, I had also bought some 'old' books on chicken coops so at least I could see that the commercial messages didn't match with the good sense in those books. I really value the good advice on BYC.

I'm reading this thread because my six bantams have always squabbled at bedtime. They can't grasp that they can't all fit onto the same small roosting bar in one coop! I've recently replaced their two coops with an Eglu, which has a sort of floor made of roosting bars, meaning that at least no-one gets pushed off the perch! Eventually one will decamp to the nest and then they settle - but they never use the available space/bars.
I think they don't like walking on the slippery plastic bars - and this is annoying, because it means they've lost the daytime chilling-out space that they used to have in the wooden coop. The manufacturers of the Eglu claim how wonderful, mite-proof and easy to clean it is but it has a lot of pros and cons.

 

[AnnPann]

Yes! I've spent hours and hours and hours diligently digesting misinformation about chickens coops and runs. And so many products are not fit for purpose. If you're new to chickens it's a nightmare. Fortunately, I had also bought some 'old' books on chicken coops so at least I could see that the commercial messages didn't match with the good sense in those books. I really value the good advice on BYC.

I'm reading this thread because my six bantams have always squabbled at bedtime. They can't grasp that they can't all fit onto the same small roosting bar in one coop! I've recently replaced their two coops with an Eglu, which has a sort of floor made of roosting bars, meaning that at least no-one gets pushed off the perch! Eventually one will decamp to the nest and then they settle - but they never use the available space/bars.
I think they don't like walking on the slippery plastic bars - and this is annoying, because it means they've lost the daytime chilling-out space that they used to have in the wooden coop. The manufacturers of the Eglu claim how wonderful, mite-proof and easy to clean it is but it has a lot of pros and cons.

I have an Omlet Cube and had to modify it to give my hens more space. It meant getting rid of the divider and turning nesting box space over to the roosting area (and setting up a nesting box in the run - used a covered cat litter box). You can then add wooden roosting bars like this to give them something more natural to roost on:

If you ditch the grey bars altogether, and use PDZ in the tray, it's super easy to clean too - no more poop getting stuck between the grey slats!

 

[Jenni Hen]

I have an Omlet Cube and had to modify it to give my hens more space. It meant getting rid of the divider and turning nesting box space over to the roosting area (and setting up a nesting box in the run - used a covered cat litter box). You can then add wooden roosting bars like this to give them something more natural to roost on:
View attachment 3286209
If you ditch the grey bars altogether, and use PDZ in the tray, it's super easy to clean too - no more poop getting stuck between the grey slats!

Yes, I have provided separate nesting boxes. My mind must have been frazzled by red mites cos I splashed out and bought two! but the chucks like them and so do I. They're quite solid with no joins, sit off the floor, and the hay inside stays dry when it rains.

Thank you very much for the photo of your setup. I's helpful to see what you've done and it's much more inviting than the original. I have two 'Go!' end-to-end, because the Cube is too wide for the run.
I've wondered a lot about the roosting bars, which seem very narrow, and my two new Shetland pullets don't like them. I just laid a nice stick in there to stop them trying to roost on my wrists at bedtime. I'd had to help one of them in, then I was stuck with both hands through the pop hole and a determined chicken on each wrist!
. I agree about the poop getting stuck and it's a pain trying to clean the inside edges of those bars.
Another problem in the 'Go!' is that the nest box is recessed into the bars, with sloping sides, and if a bird steps on the slope, she slips.
Maybe I should plan to get rid of that plastic grid and make a few low perches like you have done. I do like that the poop falls below where the birds don't reach it and I'll try to keep that if I can. In the last couple of weeks I've been using shredded paper and torn-up cardboard, for less dust, because I've just had a cataract operation . It's working well and I hope it'll compost ok.
I do need to create as much 'daytime space' in the run as possible because soon they'll have to stay in all the time. Daily cases of avian flu are increasing and some areas have already been told to keep the poultry inside.

 

[kmk]

This sounds like one of those word puzzles

Reminds me of Games Without Frontiers, War Without Tears, or something like that.

 

[PopoMyers]

So the entire space says it will hold 20 chickens - I was not making it up.

So, I'm concerned about this company, and the misleading information they advertise with. So sorry you are having these issues, when you were led to believe you had enough room. If you still want to keep all your flock, it's only logical to expand, or add to the existing one. Can you leave a review on the product? Hopefully you can inform others who may buy one.

 

[Jenni Hen]

A thread on reviews of coops would be very helpful. It would be nice to read balanced accounts of peoples' experiences and anecdotes so that it's clear to understand what the pros and cons might be.
For example I mentioned the awkward entry to the Eglu but I've solved it by turning the coop round and taking the back off. (It goes on again at night.) This makes it easier to access for cleaning, it takes up less space and the chickens like it.

 

[Pghelp]

I thought I solved my space problem with having two coops in my run but chix are funny. Just like with multiple nesting boxes to choose from, only that one will do and the queue up to use the special nesting box. Even though there should be tons of space with my two coops they insist on all cramming into the one they’ve chosen. The only saving grace is that I have a few who love roosting on top of the coop and that gives everyone else some breathing room. My second coop is now reserved for isolating one that’s ill or injured or for when I need a brooder coop. They’ve got their own ways of deciding, that’s for sure!

 

[artbykarenehaley]

I thought I solved my space problem with having two coops in my run but chix are funny. Just like with multiple nesting boxes to choose from, only that one will do and the queue up to use the special nesting box. Even though there should be tons of space with my two coops they insist on all cramming into the one they’ve chosen. The only saving grace is that I have a few who love roosting on top of the coop and that gives everyone else some breathing room. My second coop is now reserved for isolating one that’s ill or injured or for when I need a brooder coop. They’ve got their own ways of deciding, that’s for sure!

Chickens are just so stuck in their ways. Goofy lil buggers