Stopped Roosting

[xsiq]

I read posts from February. After a year of my three hens roosting nightly, one hen spent last night on the floor of the coop. Tonight, she is there again, and another is in the laying box. Do I lift them up? She doesn't seem ill. Thank you.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I think you should go out into your coop right after sunset and inspect the roost area for mites and ticks. They can hide in crevices during the day and emerge as the sun sets to feed on the chickens. Such parasites can make the chickens reluctant to go up onto the roosts. Good luck! Oh, BTW,

 

[HHandbasket]

Sometimes, one of my chooks will move to the floor or a nesting box at night if they're getting picked on by the other birds. It's a pecking order thing.

I agree, though... check for mites, etc., just in case.

 

[dbounds10]

all of my girls were roosting and now the last week or so they are all sleeping on the floor in a pile right under the roost. I have checked them for buggies and have found nothing. Will go look inside the coop at the roosts to see if I see anything there.

I was thinking that since we have closet poles for roosts that maybe they just dont like them anymore now that they are bigger. They were roosting at 7 weeks and now they are 18 weeks. We are going to replace them with 2x4 to see if they start roosting again. Picture of the current roost below.