mendiolachicks
In the Brooder
So, I finally just finished building the coop I was asking g for suggestions about on here. But over the last couple months while I was building, my chickens have gone from sleeping in their not-good-enough coop to roosting on the rails of my gazebo. Tonight one was actually on top of my gazebo... how did she get there? But even more important, how can I get them to sleep in the new and improved coop? I was kind of upset she was on top of my gazebo, so my husband and I went out and took them one by one to the roost in the new coop. So they are sleeping there tonight. But what if they try to sleep on the gazebo again tomorrow instead of their new coop?
There's a thread on trimming the flight feathers on one wing, luckily I haven't had to do that. They're used to perching on the gazebo rails, you can try taping some rough sand paper or polish it so they slide off but once they know the roost is there, think they'll get the message. Another good training method is the spray bottle 
Get one that sprays straight & far, they'll see you grab it & get the message. I use that to teach mine to stay away from our fence, one side neighbor got dogs that would LOVE to get my chickens....I've squirted the dogs (on purpose) several times, now when they see me coming with the squirt bottle they take off 
