Any new chickens I've ever got have learned quite quickly to go roost in the coop at night. The longest it's ever taken anyone to get the hang of it up till now is about a week. But now I've got these ones that just don't want to go inside at night any more.
I've got about 20 hens in my main coop and run, and I've got another coop and run I usually raise my growers in. They stay in separate coops but free range through the day and cross paths throughout the day without squabbling. Till a few weeks ago I had 2 roos and 6 pullets in the grower's coop. They were about 8 months old, all hatched and raised together. I did a cull and gave 4 of the pullets away, and slaughtered one of the roos. The next night, the remaining roo and two pullets didn't return to their coop at dusk. I couldn't find them anywhere so had to leave them out all night. The next night I figured out where they were hiding and put them back in the grower's coop. And the next night, and the next night. Then I moved them all into the main coop one night (which had been the plan all along). I left them all shut in the main coop and run till the next afternoon, then let everybody out to free range as normal. That night, and every night since, I've had to go on a chicken hunt. One of them roosts up in a tree and the other two are usually in a barn on top of a woodpile. And both of the pullets are now laying away.
I get that the cull and upheaval was obviously a major disruption for them and the catalyst for their behaviour, but how long is it going to go on? I'm getting seriously fed up tramping round the farm every night splashing through puddles and scrabbling up trees and over piles of wood full of rusty nails just to put these troublemakers to bed. If I do it before full dark they just hop down off the roost and bugger off outside again. And I can't shut them in early as some of my other chickens don't go to bed till really late and I can't shut them out. Any other chickens I've had this problem with have got the message after a week of being carted back home and stuck on the roost, maybe ten days at most. But this has been going on for a month now!
I'd just leave them to it, but two of them are the best of my Marsh Daisies and I don't want a fox taking them...
Anyone got any ideas?
I've got about 20 hens in my main coop and run, and I've got another coop and run I usually raise my growers in. They stay in separate coops but free range through the day and cross paths throughout the day without squabbling. Till a few weeks ago I had 2 roos and 6 pullets in the grower's coop. They were about 8 months old, all hatched and raised together. I did a cull and gave 4 of the pullets away, and slaughtered one of the roos. The next night, the remaining roo and two pullets didn't return to their coop at dusk. I couldn't find them anywhere so had to leave them out all night. The next night I figured out where they were hiding and put them back in the grower's coop. And the next night, and the next night. Then I moved them all into the main coop one night (which had been the plan all along). I left them all shut in the main coop and run till the next afternoon, then let everybody out to free range as normal. That night, and every night since, I've had to go on a chicken hunt. One of them roosts up in a tree and the other two are usually in a barn on top of a woodpile. And both of the pullets are now laying away.
I get that the cull and upheaval was obviously a major disruption for them and the catalyst for their behaviour, but how long is it going to go on? I'm getting seriously fed up tramping round the farm every night splashing through puddles and scrabbling up trees and over piles of wood full of rusty nails just to put these troublemakers to bed. If I do it before full dark they just hop down off the roost and bugger off outside again. And I can't shut them in early as some of my other chickens don't go to bed till really late and I can't shut them out. Any other chickens I've had this problem with have got the message after a week of being carted back home and stuck on the roost, maybe ten days at most. But this has been going on for a month now!
I'd just leave them to it, but two of them are the best of my Marsh Daisies and I don't want a fox taking them...
Anyone got any ideas?
