- Jun 21, 2013
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I have 2 hens about 6 months old that I have had for 3 months. We let them free range in our fenced backyard during the day every day. One starting laying a month ago and one a week ago. We have a slightly below grade (2-3 feet below grade) carport area with a screened porch above. I have a canoe hanging against the rear wall of the house in the carport, suspended from the floor joists of the porch. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that the chickens were spending a little time each day "playing" in the canoe. It was hanging 4-5 feet above the floor of the carport. I thought it was cute and just made a mental note to clean the poop out of the canoe before the next time I put it on the car.
Ever since we have had them, they have put themselves to bed every night faithfully. We have had a few battles since the first one started laying to get them on the roost rather than in the nesting box at night, but never any issue with going to the coop around nightfall. Until 3 nights ago. I went to the coop an hour or so after dark to lock them up, and they weren't there. I was going back inside through the carport to get a flashlight and look for them, when I heard a chirp and looked over to see them "roosting" on the side edge of the canoe in the most protected corner of the carport. So, I grabbed them one at a time and moved them to the coop.
The next morning, I raised the canoe about a foot higher to minimize the headroom, hoping that with it that much closer to the floor joists, that they wouldn't have room to get into it. Wednesday night I went out, and, no dice, they had managed to wedge themselves right back into the same spot. So, yesterday morning, I turned the canoe over so that it's suspended upside down, thinking they won't be comfortable on the slick rounded bottom of the canoe. Last night I go out, and they have wedged themselves into ANOTHER spot. There is a metal pipe running between 2 of the joists that provides gas for a starter to the fireplace on the screened porch. Even though it only has about 3 inches of clearance below the floor of the screened porch, they had managed to get themselves all the way up there and onto that spot. So, I took them to the coop, blocked that spot by laying a piece of plywood over the pipe, but because it was early (still some light, especially moreso outside the shaded carport), I opened the coop door to see what they would do.
Sure enough in about 5 minutes, they came down off the coop roost, trotted around the side yard into the carport and starting trying to find somewhere to roost. First, they sort of flung themselves up into the inside of the upside down canoe trying to find somewhere to land. Then, hopped up on a bike, staring at the ceiling. Finally, they resorted to the hood of my wife's car, eventually walked/slid/fluttered up onto the roof of the car and milled about on tit trying to find somewhere to roost and staring at the ceiling carport. This all lasted I kid you not 30 minutes. Although very amusing and interesting, it was also irritating. I hoped to wait them out to see if they would eventually give up and go to the coop, but I finally had to leave, so I escorted them that way on my own. It wasn't quite dark yet, but definitely dusky, probably 10-15 minutes after actual sunset.
I'm at a loss here. I really don't want them roosting in the carport, because the poop cleaning is going to be much more of an issue than in the coop which is equipped with the handy slide out drawer beneath the roosting bar. Plus, it's not secure. I'm in a very "in town" neighborhood, so predators are limited, but at the very least house cats are present. If those hens can make it to the edge of the canoe 5-6 feet off the ground, I'm sure some of my neighbor's acrobatic cats can do it too. In addition, a coon or coyote is not absolutely out of the question even where I live. I've never seen either, but have heard reports in our general area.
I can think of 3 options. 1: move the coop into the carport and hope they will go into it if it's in the space that they now seem to view as their coop. The negative of this is that I have more poop in my carport, but that's not a huge deal because I let them out ever single morning, so most of the coop time is spent on the roost, and I have the drawer to help me there. There up for a couple of hours in the morning, so I'll have to clean a little non-roost poop, but it's not like they don't poop in the carport anyway as they wander in and out of it all day.
2. At least give it one more night of observation and see what the heck they will do if they can't find anywhere to roost in the carport. I think I had them flummoxed last night. They were not coming down off the roof of that car, but they spent a lot of time milling about on top of it staring at the ceiling looking for somewhere to roost. Would they have eventually given up and traveled around the corner the 30 feet or so through the side yard to the coop?
3. Give up, turn the canoe back over, drop it down a few feet and let them use the darned thing as a roost. I think they will go to the same part of it every night, so I can probably station a box filled with wood shavings beneath where their rear ends will be and try to deal with the poop that way.
Sorry for the long (first) post, but I'm at a loss. What do y'all think.
Ever since we have had them, they have put themselves to bed every night faithfully. We have had a few battles since the first one started laying to get them on the roost rather than in the nesting box at night, but never any issue with going to the coop around nightfall. Until 3 nights ago. I went to the coop an hour or so after dark to lock them up, and they weren't there. I was going back inside through the carport to get a flashlight and look for them, when I heard a chirp and looked over to see them "roosting" on the side edge of the canoe in the most protected corner of the carport. So, I grabbed them one at a time and moved them to the coop.
The next morning, I raised the canoe about a foot higher to minimize the headroom, hoping that with it that much closer to the floor joists, that they wouldn't have room to get into it. Wednesday night I went out, and, no dice, they had managed to wedge themselves right back into the same spot. So, yesterday morning, I turned the canoe over so that it's suspended upside down, thinking they won't be comfortable on the slick rounded bottom of the canoe. Last night I go out, and they have wedged themselves into ANOTHER spot. There is a metal pipe running between 2 of the joists that provides gas for a starter to the fireplace on the screened porch. Even though it only has about 3 inches of clearance below the floor of the screened porch, they had managed to get themselves all the way up there and onto that spot. So, I took them to the coop, blocked that spot by laying a piece of plywood over the pipe, but because it was early (still some light, especially moreso outside the shaded carport), I opened the coop door to see what they would do.
Sure enough in about 5 minutes, they came down off the coop roost, trotted around the side yard into the carport and starting trying to find somewhere to roost. First, they sort of flung themselves up into the inside of the upside down canoe trying to find somewhere to land. Then, hopped up on a bike, staring at the ceiling. Finally, they resorted to the hood of my wife's car, eventually walked/slid/fluttered up onto the roof of the car and milled about on tit trying to find somewhere to roost and staring at the ceiling carport. This all lasted I kid you not 30 minutes. Although very amusing and interesting, it was also irritating. I hoped to wait them out to see if they would eventually give up and go to the coop, but I finally had to leave, so I escorted them that way on my own. It wasn't quite dark yet, but definitely dusky, probably 10-15 minutes after actual sunset.
I'm at a loss here. I really don't want them roosting in the carport, because the poop cleaning is going to be much more of an issue than in the coop which is equipped with the handy slide out drawer beneath the roosting bar. Plus, it's not secure. I'm in a very "in town" neighborhood, so predators are limited, but at the very least house cats are present. If those hens can make it to the edge of the canoe 5-6 feet off the ground, I'm sure some of my neighbor's acrobatic cats can do it too. In addition, a coon or coyote is not absolutely out of the question even where I live. I've never seen either, but have heard reports in our general area.
I can think of 3 options. 1: move the coop into the carport and hope they will go into it if it's in the space that they now seem to view as their coop. The negative of this is that I have more poop in my carport, but that's not a huge deal because I let them out ever single morning, so most of the coop time is spent on the roost, and I have the drawer to help me there. There up for a couple of hours in the morning, so I'll have to clean a little non-roost poop, but it's not like they don't poop in the carport anyway as they wander in and out of it all day.
2. At least give it one more night of observation and see what the heck they will do if they can't find anywhere to roost in the carport. I think I had them flummoxed last night. They were not coming down off the roof of that car, but they spent a lot of time milling about on top of it staring at the ceiling looking for somewhere to roost. Would they have eventually given up and traveled around the corner the 30 feet or so through the side yard to the coop?
3. Give up, turn the canoe back over, drop it down a few feet and let them use the darned thing as a roost. I think they will go to the same part of it every night, so I can probably station a box filled with wood shavings beneath where their rear ends will be and try to deal with the poop that way.
Sorry for the long (first) post, but I'm at a loss. What do y'all think.
