My "dirty stop out" hen!!!

[Kearns]

Hi all

We have kept and raised bantams in a free range, good sized area of our garden for just over a year. We have three new additions this year which we raised using fertilised eggs from a breeder, with our broody hens.

These three are now approximately 15 weeks old and one of them has taken to "disappearing" at night. The first night when we couldn't find her in the house when we locked the rest in, we were quite upset and thought maybe she had been taken by a bird of prey before the rest had turned in for the night.

The following morning, however, there she was....strutting about the enclosure!!

We went on holiday for a week and our chicken sitter said this happened every night. She disappears come sundown, and returns early morning

So, when we returned we watched her.....she is getting up onto the top of the house, hopping onto the fence, and roosting quite high up in a bush in the garden!!!

We will clip her wings but don't think this will stop her. Our fences are reasonably high, but will cost a lot of money to replace with higher ones (it's quite a large area).

I guess my question is......has anyone else experienced this sort of behaviour? I guess if she is high up in the bush then she is relatively safe from predators (we are in the UK....foxes not often where we are....main threat is birds of prey) but I wonder whether she will get cold come winter time.

Your thoughts/shares/ideas/comments welcome.

Justine

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sometimes when they are young they get dumb ideas in their heads about what they think is right, I have to round up my young ones for a while as they all seem to go through this faze, I would clip one wing and see if that keeps her down, she should quit it after a while you just have to keep at her, sleeping outside won't kill her but I would personally put a stop to it.

 

[mirandaleecon]

I personally wouldn't clip her wings. If they free range, this will put them at a severe disadvantage if any predators come after them. Even if they are protected at night, there are always predators during the day that could come around.

My solution would be to try to change her habits by finding a way to get her into the coop. If you start a routine of feeding them right before it's time to roost, in the coop, then they will all get into the habit of meeting you there at the same time. You'll have to start this before she usually leaves to roost. Once you have them all in the coop, lock them in. You might have to lock her in a bit earlier than she would normally go to bed but after a week or so, she will want to sleep in the coop on her own.
You could also just try catching her and putting her in the coop but after a few days of this, she will become wise to you and be much harder to catch.

You might also want to figure out why she isn't sleeping with the rest of the flock. Is she the lowest in the pecking order? Is there enough room in the coop? Are there predators harassing the chickens at night, even if they can't get in, are they scratching at the door or reaching their hands in through any openings? If you can find something that is bothering her, fixing it will make it that much easier to get her to go back to roosting in there but you will probably still have to do something to change her ways...

 

[Kearns]

Thanks for your replies.

Well, the saga continues.

We did clip her wings, but she still managed to get over the fence.

We tried the evening feed in the run.....didn't work.

So, we increased the height of the area of fence she was getting over by putting wire up. But she just found a way up to the top of that area (as we could increase the height everywhere)!

We lopped the tree down (it was coming down next year anyway)......mission complete?

She slept in the coop for two nights and we thought we had won!

Then one night she went missing again and we found her in a neighbours garden in the morning (we can't let this happen constantly, she's a lovely lady who grows her own veg!). I guess she just found somewhere else to roost.

We have ended up putting her in a caged run for a few nights which is attached to the coop. This is working for now, but not really the ultimate solution. We're planning on keeping her there for a week or so, and hopefully it's resolved. Will let you know!

J x

 

[bobbi-j]

Can you put something on the top of your fence that will bend and flop when she lands on it? Something that might throw her off balance enough that she's not going to like landing on it?

 

[Mutt Farm]

Thanks for your replies.

Well, the saga continues.

We did clip her wings, but she still managed to get over the fence.

We tried the evening feed in the run.....didn't work.

So, we increased the height of the area of fence she was getting over by putting wire up. But she just found a way up to the top of that area (as we could increase the height everywhere)!

We lopped the tree down (it was coming down next year anyway)......mission complete?

She slept in the coop for two nights and we thought we had won!

Then one night she went missing again and we found her in a neighbours garden in the morning (we can't let this happen constantly, she's a lovely lady who grows her own veg!). I guess she just found somewhere else to roost.

We have ended up putting her in a caged run for a few nights which is attached to the coop. This is working for now, but not really the ultimate solution. We're planning on keeping her there for a week or so, and hopefully it's resolved. Will let you know!

J x

I did exactly what bobbi-j suggested.

Can you put something on the top of your fence that will bend and flop when she lands on it? Something that might throw her off balance enough that she's not going to like landing on it?

I had 3 EE's that I just couldn't keep contained. I clipped 1 wing, then the second. They were still getting out. I attached floppy chicken wire to the top of the fence to 8'. That stopped it. They have nothing firn to land on to go up and over.

 

[Kearns]

Hmmm I will give that some thought - thank you! There is only a plastic netting above the fence at the moment but that is secured with batons..........

Thanks