New Member from VA

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sledgehamner

sledgehamner

Hatching
7 Years
Sep 1, 2012
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7
Hello everyone! We are new chicken owners with five 5.5 month-old Buff Orpington hens. They free range our back yard, took to the coop very nicely, and they learned to put themselves to bed. They even learned to use the nest box w/o any prompting, and we've been getting 4 eggs/day for about a week now.

I do have a little mystery now though. All of a sudden one hen isn't joining the other 4 in the coop at night. Three of the last four nights when I go out to close doors & gates, she has been roosting on top of the run. She doesn't respond to any promptings to go, so I have to pick her up and put her into the coop with the other girls. Any ideas? Could she possibly be feeling guilty for being the holdout amongst the other layers? Or would they be giving her the could shoulder if she's the last one to start laying?

Thanks,

Sledgehamner
 
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from California! Guess you just have to keep moving her until she gets the idea. Good luck.
 
Hello! Sounds like you have been doing everything just right. I've went through the same thing as you but it was with two of my old English game hens. They would also roost on the top of the run area. One evening they decided to go back into the coop at night. I think it had to do with the night it started to rain. After that night they stayed in the barn. I don't mean to sound cold hearted but I think the night in the rain they learned a lesson. They stayed on top of the run but they were protected by the barn roof overhang from the weather.





 
welcome! i don't really have any ideas, because the only ones from my flock desperate to stay outside were the guineas, and they are just kind of... well, different. i just let them sleep outside, for the most part. sometimes i would chase them around, looking like a fool, until they ran into the coop. what i do for my flock, is, they get two meals a day: breakfast and dinner. for their dinner, i put their dinner in an old coffee can, so that when i shake it up and down, it makes a rattle sort of noise. they have learned that the rattle = dinner. so, i rattle their 'corn bin' coffee can, and i go in the barn. if they want dinner (which they obvoisly do,) then they have to come inside to get it. they are trained to recognize the rattling. i hope this helps!
 
Greetings from Kansas, sledgehammer, and
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! Happy you joined us! You know, once in awhile I'll go out at dark and do the chicken count and come up one short. I immediately panic and think something got her but then I look around and she'll be roosting on top of the run or even underneath the house. And not always the same chicken, I have no idea why but once every 3 weeks are so it happens. I have one theory and that is that it has been a hot summer and even at dusk it's pretty warm in the house. Maybe it happens jsut because it's cooler outside.
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Good luck to you.
 

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