I have a weird Chicken

[Mortis]

I have a flock of 13 RIR, 1 rooster and 12 hens, that are all free-range. For the last 4 nights, when I go up to close the coop, there is always 1 hen that hops onto the branch of a hemlock tree beside the coop instead of going in with all the others. I always pick her up, and put her inside the coop with the rest. During the day, she mingles fine with all the others. No one is picking on her that I can tell.

Why won't she go in with the others at nighttime? What can I do to break her habit? I'm afraid that she may start going higher in the tree where I can't reach her anymore.

 

[gritsar]

I would just keep putting her in every night until she gets over what is bugging her.
All chickens are weird, not just yours.
I have a hen that absolutely refuses to come out of the coop if I open the human sized door instead of the pop door. All the others run out, then I have to close the human door and open the pop door before she'll exit the coop. She just started doing this.

 

[midget_farms]

She likes it! Roosting is a natural instinct.

 

[nanawendy]

The highest roost is the favorite... like a throne. She wants to be top dog or queen bee

keep moving her into the coop eventually she'll get it.

 

[woodmort]

Actually it isn't the chickens that are weird, they're perfectly normal, it's the people that keep try to make them do things against their will that is weird. I once had an EE that mingled with the free range flock all day and wouldn't go in at night--she survived for a year like that until some idiot ran her over.

 

[Tiss]

One of my cockerels has started doing the same thing. Recently, I've had to beat him off the roof of the run with a broom to get him to go inside with the others. I rather thought of leaving him there (he's low man on the rooster-totem-pole) but figured I didn't need to be attracting predators.

 

[MakNugget]

What I want to know is who doesn't have a weird chicken?

My BO, as sweet as she can be, is sometimes downright ditzy...

 

[Mortis]

She did it again tonight. I'd hate to leave her out all night, I'm sure something would eat her. She's only 4 foot off ground level, and I've already lost 1 chicken to a Great Horn Owl. I'll just keep picking her up each night and putting her in with the rest of the group. Hopefully she'll figure it out eventually, or she may become dinner for one of the night beasts.

 

[featherbaby]

Well they are sweet as can be, but they're not mental giants.......bless their hearts!

 

[nanawendy]

Yeah, for her safety I would get her in... no matter what SHE wants. We have a lot of owls and night predators, we cannot take a chance on leaving them out.