Hey Everyone! New around here...just wanted to introduce my self

[BlueJammies]

Hello ~

I have had chickens for nearly 30 years. Now that the kids are almost all grown up and gone the chickens are getting to be more and more fun. We built a new Coop (I call it Coupe de View) and it is built after the Fresh Air Coops from the early 1900's. We live in Northern Calif, so we don't get really cold ( well, if you think 35 degrees one or two nights a yr. is cold) we do get some hot stretches so ventilation is really important. I made some easy to clean roosts that are removable and some pretty sweet poop trays~lol. I will post some pics of the coop and chickens.
Right now we have 14 girls~ roosters aren't allowed in our town.

This is our 9 yr old Americana.

My question is: If all the chickens go to roost inside the coop and one chicken will NOT, insisting on roosting in trees, how can I break her of this habit? Our chickens free range during the day so she can roost outside the coop, just wondering why she does this? She is a White faced Black Spanish (light bodied bird, very tame and I have clipped her wing) she still roosts up in the tree.

Don't want to loose her to the racoons....

Any ideas?

Thanks alot,

 

[kidcody]

from washington state glad you joined us!

 

[sumi]

Hello and welcome to BYC

Your hen is beautiful! I suggest you catch the tree dweller in the evenings and put her in the coop. After a few days of this she'll hopefully get bored and go in by herself.

 

[redsoxs]

Greeting from Kansas, BlueJammies, and

! Happy you joined our flock! I agree with sumi about catching her. You might also clip her wings so she can't fly up into the trees. Good luck to you!

 

[BlueJammies]

Thanks all ~

For your suggestions on how to "coop" my white faced blk spanish renegade(Lucky is her name).

So, I have clipped her wing, I bring her in every night~ which is the funny part of the whole story. I go out every eve at dusk to bring in the 9 yr old americana and spot Lucky roosting ....sometimes she will jump down and go in the coop on her own at this point, sometimes I have to get her down and put her in. She is stubborn but knows she should be roosting in the coop! Maybe her instinct is so strong to roost in a tree that she just can't resist. I will keep you updated on how it goes....or should I say how long she holds out!
!!Here's Lucky roosting in the grape arbor.The new "Coupe de View"The Girls coming in to roost. The roosts are all removable to make cleaning easy (notice the bolt through the roost, this just slips out and the roost is cleaned every day. Now I have some sweet poop trays that are in and are also removable. Between these two "upgrades" the coop doesn't have any poop since the auto door opens at dawn and the Girls are off and running outside, coming in only to grab a bite to eat and lay eggs. I think I will have to clean out the hay every 3 mos. or so. With removable roosts that will be easy as well since I will just rake the whole coop out and into my compost pile. My dear husband ran elec. to the coop since I went for the auto opening door ~ which I love since the rats can't get at the food at night!!!
View through the Human door
Looking into the "free range" area and towards the grape arbor
.
New Pathway to the coop.

 

[DDNONIN2016]

Hello and welcome from Ohio...so glad you joined

 

[Kevin565]

 

[ingeyoung]

Welcome!!! You need to catch her and lock them all in the coop for two or three night. That will teach them to go in.

 

[weimarmama]

& from Alabama. Glad you joined us.