Roosting in trees

[meags163]

I recently moved my coop to a new location but the hens went in the first 2 nights no problem. Tonight though I went to lock them up and couldn't find them, and they are roosted really high in the trees. They are leghorns and can fly. Is this a problem/normal? How can persuade them into the coop instead of up in the trees?

 

[monathequeen]

If they're roosting in the tree's, they will eventually be eaten up by Owls...they prey on chickens.
Killed 4 of mine.
And, Racoons can climb a tree like no body's business. If the chicks are asleep, the Racoon has an easy meal...

It's normal for chickens to roost in trees. that's what they did naturally until they were domesticated.

I would keep them in a closed run where they cannot fly into the trees.
As long as they are free to fly, they will probably never roost indoors.
I used deer-netting to cover my run. It was a pain to install but my birds are safe from Hawks and Owls. Good Luck.

 

[Mahonri]

As a kid we had game birds that roosted very high in the trees. Eventually owls found them.

 

[meags163]

Thanks. They made it through last night but now I've got to coax them into the coop and lock them in there. I'll build a nice run asap.

 

[henryetta]

also, if you do have them out, just make sure you bring them in a couple ours before they want to 'go up' for the night. Mine want the ground during the day, and only go up for bed time so that was easy. Just do the here chickie,,cluck cluck with treats in hand and lock um up a bit early.