Help!!! I want to stop my chicken sleeping in the tree

[neatlayers]

Hi all!!!
I'm hoping for some advice on how to stop my heritage blue,Mavis from wanting to roost in my tree in the garden instead of joining her flock buddies in the coop!!!
I have to trick her with food to get her away at night, the other four just go in unaided when dusk begins, she finds the tree before the others have decided to go to bed. She has started to get wise to my food persuation!!!
Any advise would be gratefully excepted.

 

[bobbi-j]

If you have a run attached to your coop, lock them all in for a few days, possibly up to a week if there is room for that. It should recalibrate her to going in the coop at night.

 

[cafarmgirl]

X2, keeping her penned with only the coop as a place to roost is the only way to break her of the habit. You might want to watch when they go to roost and see if there are any issues that make her not want to roost with her flock. She may be getting bullied when it's time to roost so she's decided to go elsewhere.

 

[neatlayers]

I have tried keeping her and another, a leghorn who were new to the small flock together, in for a few days. I did this initually when they first arrived and then again after a week when the pattern started. I kept all 5 in for a day, but I felt so mean

, as I don't them shut in for longer than is necessary!!!
Okie dokie, thank you, I will try keeping them all in again

 

[neatlayers]

There others are not anywhere near the coop when she decides she wants to roast, so no bullying. she just goes for the tree regardless , it's as if to her that is where she should sleep. I don't want to resort to wing clipping to prevent her getting so high, 10 feet most of the time, cannot move things to stop her, tried cover the summer house she was using to get half way, but that still didn't stop her

 

[aart]

How much roost and coop space do you have?

Confining them is not 'mean', it may be necessary to 'train' the flock to keep them safe.
As long as you have adequate space they will be fine.

Even if you free range it's good to have a safe run in case of predator events.

What about winter? They may need to be confined to the coop due to extreme weather...it's good to figure/test that out before it's necessary

What is your climate? (Putting your location in your profile helps folks make more viable suggestions)
.

 

[Ravennest]

Can you clip her flight feathers? Just on one side...so she can still atleast flutter but not get enough height to go into the branches.

 

[neatlayers]

I have thought of that, thanks for the suggestion ravennest. It isn't really the line in which I'd like to take, but that may the last resort

 

[BDutch]

Hi, i was looking for answers for almost the same 'problem' as the thread starter.

I have one (out of 6) pullets that tries to sleep in an apricot tree every evening. She tries to do so for 4 weeks now. The first night we didn't know where she was and couldn't find het. So she slept outside the coop.

But the next day i saw her jumping in the tree and got het out, and out and out again. She keeps trying.

The others go into the run/coop and like to sleep there. But this one is always on the same spot in the tree at nightfall or trying to. Only if there's a treat in the run just before nightfall she does go in the coop, if the timing is right.

It's not a real problem because the apricot tree is small and i don't even need a chair to get her out, but i do wonder if it's possible to end this behavior?

 

[junebuggena]

Chickens are creatures of habit. It doesn't take them long to establish a bad habit, but trying to change that habit can take weeks.