Roosting Wars

[crazychick26201]

I seem to have a dysfunctional flock. My four older hens have battled over roosting spots for over a year. My coop was designed for eight hens. It is a garden coop if anyone is familiar with that design. There is only room for one roosting bar. My oldest hen (8) has taken to sleeping in a nest box as has the lowest on the pecking order. If she tries to roost the other two 2 year olds shove her off. Of the two remaining hens, one either sleeps at the top of the ramp or down in the bedding. Only one hen roosts. I have battled this out with them night after night, and usually given up exhausted. Now I have four new eighteen week olds that I am integrating into the flock. So far no bloodshed during the day but the older hens won’t let the younger ones even into the roosting area. They peck at their legs until they retreat down the ramp. One hen guards the opening and won’t let them in. I am at my wits end! Technically there should be enough space for them all to roost together. I do not have an option to enlarge the area or add another roost. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how to solve this problem? The roost bar is 5 ft. 4 inches long. The width of the coop not including nest boxes is 3 ft.

 

[DobieLover]

My coop was designed for eight hens.

Whenever I read a statement like this, a red flag goes up.
Your coop is too small for 8 hens regardless what the literature reads.

From what you posted I'm reading you have 16 sq ft in the coop. That is enough for 4 hens.
Your roost could accommodate 5 if they all get along well. You need a foot of roost space per bird. Sometimes, they disagree with that number and want more.

What size is your run? What is in your run for enrichment?

 

[Briosafarm]

You don't actually have room for 8 chickens in that small coop; from the dimensions you listed for the coop and the garden coop plans I've seen, it's sized at the minimum space recommended for 4 chickens. Unfortunately, as you are finding out, the design is perfect for a bossy hen to be able to guard the door and keep others out. I can't see any way 8 chickens will work in that small coop area and the roost bar doesn't have room for that many.

 

[3KillerBs]

I'm sorry, but I have to agree.

You're having problems because your coop is too small and your hens are fighting for their space.

For each adult, standard-sized hen you need:

• 4 square feet in the coop,
• 10 square feet in the run,
• 1 linear foot of roost,
• 1/4 of a nest box,
• And 1 square foot of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

If I'm counting correctly, you already have 5 hens in a 3x5 -- 15 square foot -- space, which is only 3 square feet per bird, and you want to add 4 more, bringing the flock up to 9 members -- which would 1.6 square feet of space per chicken (little more than the 1 square foot allotted to commercial caged layers).

9 chickens need:

• 36 square feet in the coop -- with a 6'x6' build the only really practical footprint given the common dimensions of lumber (buy 12-foot boards and cut them in half).
• 90 square feet in the run
• 9 linear feet of roost space. Since you already have roost space squabbles, you should make two separate, but same-height roosts so that birds can roost with compatible flock members.
• 3 nest boxes
• 9 square feet of permanent, 24/7/365 ventilation, preferably located over the birds' heads when they're sitting on the roost.

For a short-term fix you could try replacing your one, long roost with two, 3-foot roosts going the other direction -- making sure to place them far enough apart that a hen on one roost can't peck a hen on the other.

I would strongly suggest not adding more birds to the flock until you can correct the housing problem.

 

[crazychick26201]

Gosh! So discouraging! I did not mean to give the impression that that was the only space they had to live in. Actually that is only the roosting area. We did change the roost to accommodate two parallel bars rather than one long bar. But so far only one hen roosts there. Previously I had six hens happily roost up there but they were a different group. Here are the dimensions of my whole set up:
The coop is 10 ft. X 5 ft. Which includes the roosting area, three nest boxes and a run. Another run is attached to this by a connector box. This run is 8 ft. X 8ft. I also have a grow out coop which connects to the regular coop by a hinged door so they can go back and forth. It is 2 ft x 6 ft. And includes two 2ft. Long roosts and 1 nesting box. The hens also have access outdoors in three fenced paddocks which are rotated and have Hawk netting overhead. They are 8ft x 12ft. each. The hens rotate with 1 week in each paddock. See photos. I think my biggest problem is the hen which guards the top of the ramp. Any suggestions about what to do with her would be appreciated as well as suggestions about where to put more roosts. I have thought of maybe putting her and the other bully hen in the grow out coop (which can roost 2 hens) for a couple of nights and let the littles roost with the other two but I don’t want to make things worse. What do you think?
I will post photos in the next post.

 

[crazychick26201]

Below see the coop and runs and one of the paddocks. The second photo is the grow out coop.

 

[LaFleche]

Although it is normal for chickens to start their usual pecking order squabbles at roosting time, some breeds are known to be quite nasty and even more so with other breeds than their own.

I think my biggest problem is the hen which guards the top of the ramp.

What are the actual breeds you have, and what exactly is the guarding one?

Separating her from the others sounds like a good idea to me, and if she does not calm down after 10 days or so, you might even think about rehoming her or butcher. Chicken soup is very tasty.

putting her and the other bully hen in the grow out coop (which can roost 2 hens) for a couple of nights

 

[crazychick26201]

All my hens are Buff Orpingtons which are supposed to be one of the most docile breeds.

 

[3KillerBs]

So, more space than it sounded like, but still, you said,

The coop is 10 ft. X 5 ft. Which includes the roosting area, three nest boxes and a run.

When talking about space requirements in the coop you count only the enclosed area where the roosts are. That's the coop proper -- sometimes called "the henhouse" -- where you need 4 square feet per hen.

The nestboxes don't count towards the square footage available in any area.

The square footage of the run is counted separately from the square footage of the coop and that's where you need 10 square feet per hen.