My hens have stopped going into their coop at night! Picture!

[cutlerfam7]

I have four 22wk old hens and thirty 15wk old hens. My 22wk old hens have come to the conclusion that our butterfly bush in our garden is way better to roost in then their coop is.




At around 7:50 or earlier, eastern time, it ends up being pretty dark around that time we will find one or two sometimes even all four of the girls hanging in the butterfly bush. We usually leave them for about another hour to see if they will go back on their own. A few nights in a row now we have either had to carry one or two of the girls back into their coop!

Is there a reason why they would want to stay outside and not go back into their coop? I just got one egg today from the girls so they are obviously starting to lay now. Could that be effecting their usual pattern? Is it throwing them off a little bit? We don't mind carrying them to their coop because it gives us an excuse to hold them but is there anything wrong with this behavior?

Could they grow out of it? We never had this problem with them before! They have always gone into their coop at night and this is just a recent occurence.

 

[thebanthams]

You will need to pen them until they know they must go in their coop ! they just found a very comfortable spot to sleep ! They will get over it .

 

[Wisher1000]

There are several possible reasons for them to do this.

If your coop is not very well ventilated, it might be cooler (Well, in this weather, NOT AS HOT!) in that bush. My chickens have both a covered run and walled coop. In the hot, humid, Alabama summer, they all sleep in the run at night even though the inside part has large, wire covered window openings on three sides.

It could be that something is different in the coop and it makes it seem not as safe as it once seemed to them. My birds hate it when I change the shavings, they don't like it if I move anything inside their area, either. It could have been that a preditor or other visitor scared them. My chickens go nuts if a mouse comes in the coop to eat spilled feed. They act like it is a monster.

It could be that the bush seems more cozy and offers more concealment (hiding places) than the coop and that is appealing to them.

Or, it could be that they roosted there in the daytime enough that it became habit and they just go there because they go there!

Chickens are weird like that. Temporarily tie or prune the limbs of the bush so that they are more verticle and not good for roosting. Shoo or lure them into the coop BEFORE their roost time and shut the door for a week and they will get the idea. Make sure that the coop is comfortable and safe-feeling and they will go back to their old routine!

Good luck!

 

[chfite]

Trimming the branches might be a good idea.

Chris

 

[Moosetails]

Earlier in the summer, my Cuckoo Maran's would do the same thing if I left them out past dusk. I would carry them back to the run and they were fine with that. My DH cut the tree back, making it harder for them to roost in and now they leave the tree alone.

 

[cutlerfam7]

There are several possible reasons for them to do this.

If your coop is not very well ventilated, it might be cooler (Well, in this weather, NOT AS HOT!) in that bush. My chickens have both a covered run and walled coop. In the hot, humid, Alabama summer, they all sleep in the run at night even though the inside part has large, wire covered window openings on three sides.

It could be that something is different in the coop and it makes it seem not as safe as it once seemed to them. My birds hate it when I change the shavings, they don't like it if I move anything inside their area, either. It could have been that a preditor or other visitor scared them. My chickens go nuts if a mouse comes in the coop to eat spilled feed. They act like it is a monster.

It could be that the bush seems more cozy and offers more concealment (hiding places) than the coop and that is appealing to them.

Or, it could be that they roosted there in the daytime enough that it became habit and they just go there because they go there!

Chickens are weird like that. Temporarily tie or prune the limbs of the bush so that they are more verticle and not good for roosting. Shoo or lure them into the coop BEFORE their roost time and shut the door for a week and they will get the idea. Make sure that the coop is comfortable and safe-feeling and they will go back to their old routine!

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice. It has actually been very cool here at night time in Central MA. We haven't had a warm night in a while and they have been in there coop since they were only a few weeks old so that may not be it. However, I did put some fake eggs in their nest boxes cause I read that is a good idea to encourage them to lay eggs. Maybe they don't like the fake eggs? I found three of them in the bush last night hanging out. So me and my boyfriend just carried them to bed . Chickens are very weird!

 

[Wisher1000]

Quote:

Are you putting them to bed in the nest boxes? If so, that is probably the issue. They need a roost inside the coop where they can sleep perching. If your winters are cold, they will do well with a 2x4 turned with the 4" side up so that they can cover their feet. Sleeping in the nest boxes is a bad habit because it leads to dirty nest materials and eggs.

BTW - beautiful garden and cute Polish!

 

[cutlerfam7]

Are you putting them to bed in the nest boxes? If so, that is probably the issue. They need a roost inside the coop where they can sleep perching. If your winters are cold, they will do well with a 2x4 turned with the 4" side up so that they can cover their feet. Sleeping in the nest boxes is a bad habit because it leads to dirty nest materials and eggs.

BTW - beautiful garden and cute Polish!

They have two roosts in their coop which they have always been able to reach and have access to so I'm not too sure about that. However, I will make sure to put them on the roost when I put them into the coop at night cause usually we just plop them in the run area of the coop which also has a roost. They will usually make there way up to the inside of the coop and whatever they do in there is beyond me.

 

[cutlerfam7]

We recently just had a hawk attack so the chickens are now in their coop for the time being until the hawk moves on to another location. For now, if the chickens do go out it is supervised so there should no longer be an issue with the whole coop thing. Thanks for all your help