Roo Not Going to Coop...

[TKGray5711]

So we have 9 BO hens that hatched in May, and got 2 more hens and 1 orp roo that hatched in September. There was some pretty normal pecking order issues in the beginning, but now everyone goes to the coop at night together on their own with no issue...except our Roo.

Three separate nights now, over the last month, not consecutively, he hasn't gone to the coop at night. I find him hanging out in the run the next morning. They all free range throughout the day.

He has no visible trauma, peck marks, missing feathers...nothing to indicate that he's being bullied. And the two young girls who were introduced with him are having zero issue.

Why is he only sometimes not going to coop at night? I feel like if he was being picked on, it would be every night, no?

What are your thoughts?

 

[sourland]

I would watch closely in the evening to determine the problem. As a young cockerel he may very well be being bullied.

 

[Knobby]

I have 2 barred rocks roosters that prefer to sit outside at nights..even in this cold weather that we're currently in. I have to gently pick them up and put them inside since I'd like them to be warm at nights.

 

[3KillerBs]

How big is your coop and how much roost space is available?

 

[TKGray5711]

How big is your coop and how much roost space is available?

I can't think of the dimensions. But looking in on them at night, they are all huddled on one side and take up, maybe, half? We want a bigger one, which we'll start working on as soon as the weather starts to turn again. But we've not like the roost space available in it for a while. There could definitely be more!

 

[TKGray5711]

I would watch closely in the evening to determine the problem. As a young cockerel he may very well be being bullied.

I watched them tonight... he is definition being not allowed in.

We're thinking that the nights he  is in there, he must be getting inside before the big girls. But if he's coming in towards the back of the pack,, he's not allowed in..

How do I help my little weenie of a Roo not sit at the bottomof the totem pole?

 

[sourland]

He'll get there as he matures, but for now you may have to intervene to help him get into the coop.

 

[TracyMom22]

I have 2 barred rocks roosters that prefer to sit outside at nights..even in this cold weather that we're currently in. I have to gently pick them up and put them inside since I'd like them to be warm at nights.

I have 2 barred rocks who do the same thing! I go out and there they are, and I’m not sure why! It’s a clumsy process to get them into the coop and closed up. Flashlight in 1 hand, chicken in the other.

 

[Knobby]

I have 2 barred rocks who do the same thing! I go out and there they are, and I’m not sure why! It’s a clumsy process to get them into the coop and closed up. Flashlight in 1 hand, chicken in the other.

They actually wait for me as I am walking to their coop. Once I am about to open the door to the run, they will fly up to the outside roost and then hop onto my arm so I can carry them into the coop.