Is my hen insane?

[Loudawg11]

As winter is fast approaching here in new England, 1 hen repeatedly stays on one side of the roost while the 4 other hens huddle together on the other side. I am hoping that once it dives below 0 all the hens will just go in the hen house but for now it's still like 28 degrees out and I'm afraid the one all alone on the one side will get frostbitten and die. Any advice?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How big is your coop? Generally a bottom ranking hens needs to be 5 feet minimum away from the top hens in order to not get pecked. I'm guessing your coop is small?

 

[Loudawg11]

It is 10 feet across

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It is 10 feet across

Do you have multiple roosts? Or one long one?

 

[Loudawg11]

One long one

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That can cause problems. If you can't add another roost or two than some people have put a divider in. The top hens will chase all the birds off the roost otherwise.

 

[Loudawg11]

There other 4 seem to be getting along fine?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

There other 4 seem to be getting along fine?

Unfortunately the bottom hen will often be alone, especially in a smaller flock of chickens.

Your other option is to go out every night and put her on the roosts with the hope she will go in eventually. She will get frostbite when it gets colder.

 

[Loudawg11]

Ok

 

[Loudawg11]

Thank-you!