Help! Chickens roosting on Wood Shed!

[wampaandpercy]

Hi, we have 7 chickens and they have a coop with a roost and access to the outside. Everyday we open the door, and they come out of their coop. They wander around and at night, they roost on the wood shed, not in their coop. Every night, we have to catch them one by one, and they freak out every night. This has been going on for almost 2 months now- do you have any suggestions on how to get them to roost in the coop? By the way, druing summer, they roosted in their coop just fine, but when we moved their coop under the wood shed this winter, they started to roost on the wood shed. thanks so much.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Not an expert, but here is what I'd try:

-Don't let them have access to the shed
-Clip wings so they can't fly up in the shed
-Make sure their roosting place is very appealing (spacious, clean, comfortable temps, high enough, etc.)
-Keep them in their coop / run area for a few weeks so they get used to roosting in the proper place

I had one chicken roosting up in a tree at night when everyone else was in the coop. I clipped her wing so she had a harder time getting up into the tree and kept her in the coop/run so she couldn't roost anywhere else for a few weeks. She got use to it and is now in there every night with all the other girls.

 

[BeckyLa]

Sounds like they are unhappy with being moved "down under" the shed. Birds like to roost up high. If they free range your yard, you will probably have to leave everybody locked in their coop for 1-2 weeks to retrain them. If you have a run on their coop then put deer netting over it so they can't fly out. This will leave them no alternative but to roost in their coop. Training chickens is not an easy task!

smiley teapot

 

[ncboman]

I had a rooster that liked to roost way up one of my pear trees.

I kinda liked it, reminded me of a wild turkey.

 

[mandyk]

I have two hen's that roost every night high up in a young ash tree, I really don't think it's a problem and they do like to be up high, if they are happy why not

 

[KaterCheek]

My hen does this too. All the other hens roost inside the henhouse, she likes to be on top. She has to fly THROUGH a thick thorny tree to get there. I tried putting her inside, but finally just let her be. She's not bothering anyone there and we don't have any predators to bother her.