Fearful Little Hens, but One Happy Roo!

[brideoftheson]

Hello. I’m new on here. I have 14 free range chickens that are 18wks old. (1/2 PBR ½ SLW)
I have only one roo (PBR) who is VERY friendly to everyone. No eggs yet from the hens. Their coop is 4ft X 10ft with various perches.
Help! I’ve looked all over this site (and other sites) and have not yet seen any useful advice. I don’t want to get rid of my roo because I plan to breed the rocks at some point. Perhaps someone has some new advice I haven’t seen yet. My Roo is a “Romeo” for sure and is very active with the ladies. He’s not causing injuries to the hens: they are just afraid of him. PROBLEM: For the last three nights more and more of them are refusing to go into the coop at night. For their safety I have to hunt them down, gather, and bring them to the coop which is not an easy task. Does anyone have any GOOD ideas on how to help this learning process less traumatic? I think I might separate my roo for tonight just to give them a break, but separating him every night is unrealistic. I can’t physically chase chickens. Note: They have water and treats in their coop every night, so there is reason to go in. Help!

 

[Free Feather]

Is there a possibility that a predator is harassing them at night? My chickens did not want to sleep in their coop at all, and the next night a raccoon killed a couple. It was lurking and trying to find ways to break in before it actually succeeded.

 

[drumstick diva]

Sometimes the coop is harboring a mite invasion - they come out at night and bite the birds on the roost. You might want to check them over really well and see if you can find any on them. If so you have to treat the coop, nest boxes, roosts everything AND all the birds. Usually overbred hens will hide in the coop. When birds roost at dusk, they generally stay put - they don't like to move around in the dark. I doubt your rooster is bothering them - unless it is morning and they aren't let out soon enough.

 

[trailrider330]

Welcome to the BYC flock. We are very glad you decided to join us.

Feel free to ask any questions you have and be sure to check out the "Learning Center" tab.

Ditto to everything the other posters said with regards to your flock.

If you let give your chickens more time, will they eventually go into the coop on their own or are they finding another spot outside of the coop to roost? Another thing to consider is how much roost space you have (recommended at least 8-12" per bird) and how high off the ground they are.

 

[brideoftheson]

So, I have an update, but first let me answer a couple questions.

Thanks Free Feather. We have a video monitor watching our baby goats (call us obsessive) and they don’t seem phased by anything predator-ish, so I really don’t think that is an issue.

Hi Drumstick diva. I just scrubbed my coop top to bottom just over a week ago with a fresh bag of wood shavings. I haven’t seen any excessive scratching or bruising plus they meander in and out all day, so the coop itself doesn’t appear to be an issue. Their poops all look normal.
I let the chickens out between 6:30 & 7:30 every morning. You are right about one thing, it’s not entirely my rooster. I’ll explain shortly.

Hello trailrider 330. As I stated in the first post, my coop is adequate size averaging 3 square feet a bird with plenty of perches. The coop is built inside my 1840’s barn 3’ OFF the ground on a large concrete platform. The nesting boxes are being built this weekend and will protrude outside the barn increasing the square footage a little more. The flock has been going in their coop at night on their own for weeks & weeks up until only a few days ago.

I am eastern time zone to eliminate confusion. It was 9pm when I had just come in from putting all the animals to bed.
So I was in the garden and the thought came across my mind that maybe Pepper, my roo and favorite chicken, would like a little help wooing his hens. He always follows me around. If I give him any garden treats I usually give them all treats, but this time I only gave Pepper an over ripe cherry tomato. He clucked and clucked and showed off his treat. He actually got a few hen’s attention. I gave him several more one at a time and he share with his girls.

Then Pepper went in the barn which is usually shut, but I had been in and out and he wandered in. The sun was set and it was close to dark, so I shut the door on him to let him visit the goats & hopefully giving the hens a peaceful entrance to the coop. The coop has it’s own access door obviously. So, one by one they started to meander toward the coop… all but the few who’ve been staying behind. They’ve been perching up on top of two vacant animal summer shelters. So, with the hose in my hand I thought perhaps a light shower would encourage them to go to the coop. Thank God! It did work.
Then, once they were in I shut their door. I went in and played with my goats for 15minutes letting Pepper cluck freely around the barn and giving the hens some free time before “the boss came home”. That’s when I heard the ruckus. There is in fact a pecking order situation going on in the coop. I don’t know which ones are dominating because every time I looked in the coop the ruckus would stop of course.

So… (sigh) I let Pepper in and he repeatedly had his way with several hens as usual.

So I have a dual issue. I guess time is what they need. Time to figure it out? I’ll keep you all posted.

I should have stated in my first post, we recently bought a 1 acre piece of property & 1840’s farmhouse and barn 2 miles from the Canadian border to begin our homesteading dream. We have two baby Nigerian goats, two 2mo old ducks, 7 SLW hens, 6 PBR hens, 1 PBR Rooster. We plan to add some honey bees to our collection next spring. Our property is surrounded by very friendly year old heifers. LOVING country living!

 

[chickens r life]

Try putting a small led light in your coop at night.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[brideoftheson]

Good idea! The light difficult to get at so I will have to wait until my husband can help me. Looks like the nesting boxes are on hold too as he's been asked to work overtime this weekend.

 

[brideoftheson]

Nothing new to report. The peking order continues and my Roo is a relentless romeo. He's a good roo though. ...found a "secret" nesting spot for them. I've got to get those nesting boxes done. I've been helping Pepper's courting by supplying him with little goodies to share... and he does!

 

[brideoftheson]

Well, my roo continues to terrorize my hens. I've been putting him in a separate pen at before dark so the hens will go in the coop. I don't know how much longer he'll let me do that. I found 3 eggs for the first time yesterday!!! One had such a thin membrane that it didn't hold the contents. First egg for that hen so I'm sure it's normal. I'm starting to offer oyster shells for them in their coop.