Going to Roost!

[bdog]

I let my chicken out of the 25'x25' pen with house in the middle everyday at 5PM!

They generally go back inside about 7:30pm and I shut the pen gate, but last night 3 must have went to roost in trees outside the pen/coup! They were walking around outside this morning.

Tonight they were all back in the pen/coup!

I am afraid a coon or owl might get them if they stay out.

Is there anything to do to reinforce them going back in the pen/coup?

Thanks
Jimmy

 

[BANTAMWYANDOTTE]

I can give you my experiance here:
If you don't have a Rooster, you may need one:
I have 6 Red Sex-Link hens and One Production Red Rooster. I have several types of chickens here and recently the free-ranging Production Red Rooster started fighting with my American Gamefowl Roosters. This is dangerous to both roosters and I want to keep them both. I had to remove the PR from the six hens. When night fell the hens roosted in all kinds of odd places, not even near the rooster.Apparently the Rooster leads his flock to roost. Now they stay confined but are happy. I found that you can try to take them one by one out of the trees ect and replace them in their coop but I am still not sure.

IF you have a rooster, you have a predator around:
The best advice my vet ever gave me was "A happy chicken will lay eggs as long as she feels safe, secure and is well care for." So when my hens and rooster refused to return to their coop last summer, I was very confused, Then the hens stopped laying all together. This was when I called the vet. She came out and found that a possum was stalking the flock and the hens felt threatend and would not lay eggs in an unsafe place for their young. The presence of predators in or near a coop will cause chickens to avoid it (maybe not all of them)

My Best Advice

Timothy from KY