How to keep them from roosting in the tree?

[rmc85]

I have 12 chickens that are currently free range all day on 5 acres. I shut the coop at dusk when they go in and let all of them back out in the morning when I wake up. We have one chicken that refuses to roost in the coop! It took weeks for me to find where she was roosting because

1. I didn't know which one was missing at first
2. She's all black (a little green in the right light)
3. She's roosting 15 feet up in a oak tree above the coop.

In case you never tried to find a black chicken in a oak tree at dark...its hard as heck! Now I know the 3 spots she is always in and check on her when I put the other ones up for the night.

My problem isn't with her because she waits till I come out in the morning (no matter what time I come out could be 7 a.m. or could be 10 a.m.) to come down from the tree and join the others when I let them out. Its funny because when I walk over and open the run and coop she starts to get "happy feet" and dance around until the other chickens are all out in the yard.

Now to my problem...It seems that now some of the other chickens and one roo figured if its ok for Pepper to be up in the tree that its ok for them to be in the tree! The issue here is that all the other chickens that have attempted to roost in the tree will come down sometime during the night or way early morning. I live in the country and we DO have problems with coyotes/foxes/raccoons/ possums and every other predator you could think of so I don't want to find my chickens dead! I had that happen once and it was NOT fun! Now that I'm typing this I guess it would be a good idea to also break Pepper of roosting in the tree.

So how do I get them to stop roosting in the oak tree? They've been in the coop for a few months and this has really just started to be a problem. I was reading that I just need to shut them in the coop for a extended period of time, but I don't know if that's the right thing to do.

Help me!!!! Please!?!?!?

 

[bkreugar]

If you clip Peppers wings she won't be bale to fly up into the tree.Go out a little earlier than your girls go in and chase/push/coax pepper in by food and a rake. My children call this the carrot and stick method.

 

[Renee']

Monday night mine decided that they didn't want to sleep in the coop. They wanted to roost on top of the chain link fence so every night I have been carrying each chicken to the coop. I was thinking that, just before dusk (before they roost on the fence) I should go out with a handful of scrath and just make a trail of scratch to the coop and then shut them in once they follow the trail of scratch into the coop?? What do ya'll think?

 

[Renee']

My girl's wings are clipped. They use a pipe corral that is adjacent to the fence (and can not be moved) as a ladder to hop up to the top of the chain link fence. rmc85's birds maybe using limbs as a ladder to get up into the tree??

 

[greyhorsewoman]

I feed my chickens twice a day. If you close them up before dark and take some treats, you could condition them to all gather (which might entice your wayward hen) for the goodies. That is how I get a few of my 'escape artists' back in the coop every evening. Good luck !

 

[rmc85]

Renee' :

rmc85's birds maybe using limbs as a ladder to get up into the tree??

They do not have clipped wings but I have watched them use the ladder method.

They fly 6 feet to the top of the coop, fly 5 feet to one of the branches, and the just kinda hop to their desired height.

Some of them have been roosting on the fence next to the coop and they SCREAM bloody murder when I grab them to put them in the coop. A few are starting to act skittish (from picking them up after their roosted on the fence/coop) and I DONT want to make them think people are bad.​

 

[rmc85]

I'm going to start giving them treats tonight and see if that will work.

How does a person clip their wings? never done it before so I'm clueless. I prefer to not clip them just in case they need to fly away from a predator. They do free range all day so they might need to fly if it comes to life or death.

 

[cybercat]

When you clip the wing make sure to do only one wing and get the primaries as well as some secondaries. For the other it is retraining time. That mean lock down in the coop for a couple of days to break the habit. There comes a time for every chickens owner has to do this if they free range for one reason or another. It is usually roosting or egg laying.

 

[rmc85]

Egg laying has been a little bit of a problem here recently too. Our 2 full grown RIR's have been picking up some bad habits from the new ones. The little ones like to hang out under the porch during the day. The RIR's have followed and been leaving some eggs under the porch.

They have been easy to correct though...If I havent had eggs for a day I go look under the porch and see if they have left some eggs there. If they have I just go put the eggs in the coop and the next time they lay its in the coop.

 

[obchix]

I use treats to get them in every evening. They even see me walking towards the shed that has the scratch in it and they come running! I put it in a plastic cup so that they can hear me shaking the scratch around... works quite well. I sometimes use grapes too..boy do they love grapes! Good luck!