Ladies Huddle in the Coop

[melandtodd]

Hello Everyone! This is my first time posting, but have I gleened so very much info. from all of you the past few months just reading. I have 13 Black Australorpe ladies (and a Golden Polish rooster) that are 12 weeks tomorrow. They have been in the same run and coop (coop is 8ft by 8ft) for the past month. When they come in at dusk they huddle in the corner together for an hour before they begin to relax and settle on to their roosts or on the floor. They are always so friendly and loving..they never act nervous or huddle like that any other time..just at "bedtime"? Are we putting them to be wrong? LOL

 

[nanawendy]

Make sure there is nothing in their area that might scare them. Do they have a light that might help them to navigate ? How's your roost set up?

 

[melandtodd]

We have a 20watt yellow light that is angled toward the ceiling because when it was angled toward the floor, they would just huddle under that. The coop is a perfect square with 4 rows of roosts on one wall, nesting boxes on the next wall, food and waterer on the third wall and our entrance on the fourth wall. There is a window on the food/waterer wall that is closed when they go to bed. They have (luckily) never been traumatized by any predators before or children either! Whew!

 

[nanawendy]

Wellllll Thennnnnnn... They are just being silly girls

 

[tarragon]

Mine did that at first when they first moved into the coop. After a couple of weeks they got over it and started using the roosts. Maybe it's just a teenager thing.

 

[Momagain1]

Mine are about 6ish months old...and I have a group of hens that STILL huddle in a corner instead of roosting...

 

[melandtodd]

Thank you all for your replies and I think you are right---they are just being silly little girls. I have to keep in mind that they are still young. Just wanted to make sure that mine are not being unknowingly traumatized by me! LOL

 

[audioguy]

Well, I seem to have the same problem. My chicks have been in the coop for 2 months now and at first they only huddled in the corner under the coop each night. I have a high roost in the coop and one outside across the run.
Now that they are getting close to possibly laying their first eggs, they now congregate on the high roost out in the run.

They have never really gone into the coop, except during the day to look around. Not once have they gone inside to sleep.

I guess they will eventually figure it out, maybe once the snow starts to fall. I have watched them on the roost when its raining, just sitting there getting soaked.

Dummies???