cityeggs
Songster
I was so relieved that our 4 little chicks started sleeping on a roosting bar around 6-7wo and we didn't have any issues getting them to roost. Around 12wo, I added a dropping board. I figured I'd give them a few weeks to adjust before I had to open the nesting boxes. At first, they played "the dropping board is lava", but eventually everyone roosted on the bar again.
A few weeks later, I thought it would be safe to uncover the nest boxes and immediately, our Australorp (Andeg) started sleeping on the poop tray in the corner between the roost and the walls (one of which is an exterior door). I thought maybe she was afraid of the nesting boxes, so for a little while, I went out and moved her back onto the roosting bar, but then we went away for a few days.
When we got back, our cockerel had hit that 16w hormone switch and wouldn't leave the pullets alone. I worked to find a new home for him and was separating them for as much of the day as I could to give the girls a break. I figured maybe Andeg was afraid of him, so I let her continue sleeping in her corner, knowing that he'd get rehomed soon, and I'd "sleep train" her then.
Since he was rehomed soon after, I've caught the two other pullets trying to sleep there occasionally, but it's mainly Andeg (the RSL only did it once when she was struggling with passing soft eggs and feeling crummy). I've tried cluttering the corner with stuff (a brick, a few scraps of wood), but they either just move them and sleep in between, or roost on whatever I put there. I tried leaning a piece of plywood in various configurations, which will stop them for a little bit but even if I do it for a week, as soon as I take it away, she goes back to sleeping there (and then I'm scraping poop off plywood, so why have a poop tray?). I've also tried moving her every night, but I've now been doing that for over a week also, and she's still doing it. The first few days, she'd get back down as soon as she heard me leave, and we'd go through that a few times, but now *I think* she's staying up and only needs to be moved once, and I'm doing it closer to roost time, instead of later at night, in hopes that she'll spend less time there and eventually get the idea that that's not her bed.
As you can see in the photos, there are wide spaces between the siding now. It was very rainy when we finished the coop and the seams were pretty tight then, but now that everything's dried out, some of the gaps are as big as 1/4". Once I noticed, I thought maybe it was bc she was cold (and I didn't want them getting too draughty even if that wasn't the reason for sleeping off the roost), so until we get to tightening up the siding, I've been wrapping the walls with a tarp on the outside every night (after I make sure everyone's on the roost).
What else can I try? I've included photos to see if you all can spot something I can change. The coop is an elevated coop, with exterior nesting boxes even with the floor (with a lip); the top of the boxes are 18". The roosting bar is low - just 12" off the floor, and the drop tray is also low - I think the base is just 3" below the bottom of the roost.
Do you think moving the roosting bar up would help? Or moving the dropping board down? Or both? My concern is that there's not a lot of landing space if we move the roost up much more - I could do 18" off the floor without a ladder, but then I worried if I put the dropping board just below that, they might start laying under the dropping board - it might be too cozy and nest-y under there.
The only other thing I can think of is that this is just pecking order roost drama. Our RSL has always complained about her position on the roost, and now that there are only 3 of them with no cockerel to get stuck on the end most nights, she seems to pester the other two trying to get a better position, so maybe Andeg just gets fed up and has decided to sleep elsewhere? If that's the case, will it ever calm down? We wanted 4 hens, so in the near future, I'd like to get 2 more chicks. I'm not quite ready right now, but (once they're integrated), do you think it's possible that it might dilute the drama? Or is it more likely to intensify it? Or is that all just a matter of the personalities that we get and could go either way?
Photos of Andeg's favorite corner from 2 angles (the piece of plywood in the front of the last photo is the one that I've leaned against the wall - moved for cleaning)
A few weeks later, I thought it would be safe to uncover the nest boxes and immediately, our Australorp (Andeg) started sleeping on the poop tray in the corner between the roost and the walls (one of which is an exterior door). I thought maybe she was afraid of the nesting boxes, so for a little while, I went out and moved her back onto the roosting bar, but then we went away for a few days.
When we got back, our cockerel had hit that 16w hormone switch and wouldn't leave the pullets alone. I worked to find a new home for him and was separating them for as much of the day as I could to give the girls a break. I figured maybe Andeg was afraid of him, so I let her continue sleeping in her corner, knowing that he'd get rehomed soon, and I'd "sleep train" her then.
Since he was rehomed soon after, I've caught the two other pullets trying to sleep there occasionally, but it's mainly Andeg (the RSL only did it once when she was struggling with passing soft eggs and feeling crummy). I've tried cluttering the corner with stuff (a brick, a few scraps of wood), but they either just move them and sleep in between, or roost on whatever I put there. I tried leaning a piece of plywood in various configurations, which will stop them for a little bit but even if I do it for a week, as soon as I take it away, she goes back to sleeping there (and then I'm scraping poop off plywood, so why have a poop tray?). I've also tried moving her every night, but I've now been doing that for over a week also, and she's still doing it. The first few days, she'd get back down as soon as she heard me leave, and we'd go through that a few times, but now *I think* she's staying up and only needs to be moved once, and I'm doing it closer to roost time, instead of later at night, in hopes that she'll spend less time there and eventually get the idea that that's not her bed.
As you can see in the photos, there are wide spaces between the siding now. It was very rainy when we finished the coop and the seams were pretty tight then, but now that everything's dried out, some of the gaps are as big as 1/4". Once I noticed, I thought maybe it was bc she was cold (and I didn't want them getting too draughty even if that wasn't the reason for sleeping off the roost), so until we get to tightening up the siding, I've been wrapping the walls with a tarp on the outside every night (after I make sure everyone's on the roost).
What else can I try? I've included photos to see if you all can spot something I can change. The coop is an elevated coop, with exterior nesting boxes even with the floor (with a lip); the top of the boxes are 18". The roosting bar is low - just 12" off the floor, and the drop tray is also low - I think the base is just 3" below the bottom of the roost.
Do you think moving the roosting bar up would help? Or moving the dropping board down? Or both? My concern is that there's not a lot of landing space if we move the roost up much more - I could do 18" off the floor without a ladder, but then I worried if I put the dropping board just below that, they might start laying under the dropping board - it might be too cozy and nest-y under there.
The only other thing I can think of is that this is just pecking order roost drama. Our RSL has always complained about her position on the roost, and now that there are only 3 of them with no cockerel to get stuck on the end most nights, she seems to pester the other two trying to get a better position, so maybe Andeg just gets fed up and has decided to sleep elsewhere? If that's the case, will it ever calm down? We wanted 4 hens, so in the near future, I'd like to get 2 more chicks. I'm not quite ready right now, but (once they're integrated), do you think it's possible that it might dilute the drama? Or is it more likely to intensify it? Or is that all just a matter of the personalities that we get and could go either way?
Photos of Andeg's favorite corner from 2 angles (the piece of plywood in the front of the last photo is the one that I've leaned against the wall - moved for cleaning)
