Some don't like the coop?

Turkeyrun

Chirping
10 Years
Jul 30, 2009
79
0
92
Hi

We have 14 pearl gray and one pearl lavender guineas approx four months old. For the most part they all have been good about going into the coop at night with a little occasional encouragement. For the past week it has been a battle to get five of them into the coop and often a couple do end up staying out for the night. They get to far up on the netting and supports covering the chicken yard for us to get to them. They are developing a bad habit. It is raining hard tonight and they still preferred to be outside.

Now I am trying to figure out if there is something they don't like about the coop. At this point I think it may be the configuration of the roost bars. There is plenty of space for all of them if they use both bars but one bar is higher than the other. I think I will add another bar at the higher level. Anything other suggestions?

I can't tell if it is always the same guineas, but I suspect it is as the lavender is one of the ones that prefers to stay out and I can identify that one.

Thanks,
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It probably has more to do with what is going on within the flock. One or two of the birds are probably the low birds and are relentlessly hounded by the others. The others that are staying out with them is part of a sub group.

Make hiding areas on the floor of the coop, I have half sheets of plywood leaning against three walls, this will give the under birds places to hide.

Get them all in the next day. Keep them locked up for a couple of days.

It helps if you have enough space to have an interior pen, one that birds can be herded in to and locked up while recalcitrant birds are rounded up and put in the coop. It becomes easier when they realize they won't be pounced on the moment they get near the door.

I have a large Guinea coop, there is an enclosed 8X8 pen with a door in to the main coop and a bird door that leads outside. This has made it much easier to get low birds in to the coop at night.
 

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