Stubborn Girls

[deegee68]

Hello Everyone,

I have a question for the group. I have three ladies that are 11 weeks old. Two White Leghorns and One Black Australorp. Every day I open their coop and they free range and cause havoc in my yard and when it starts to get dusk, they walk back into their run, up the ladder and into their coop. I wait till dark and close and lock the door. I know we have raccoons in the area so its important I lock the door behind them.

Now on to my question: Lately like the last week or so, instead of being good girls and going in they are going to the top of the coop and all three will bunch up and hang out there until it gets pitch dark and they zombiefy. I now have to pick them up and put them into coop. Any idea on what happened here and is this common? If so how can I get them back into their groove?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I call it the teenager stage, they suddenly think they know better than you and try to do things their own way, you will have to continue to shag them in for a bit, they usually grow out of it. I would do a quick look inside your coop to make sure there isn't a reason for them to suddenly not like the coop, are they hot, crowded, spiders, or anything that might bother them, more than likely it's the first option.

 

[ANelson726]

I actually laughed out loud and snorted when I read "zombify" Perfect way to describe it. My girls went through this stage too. They would fall asleep on my back patio at the sliding glass door. I had to carry them each to the roost. It was so annoying. Eventually we fenced off their corner of the yard. I would still let them out to free range during the day, but then I would use grapes to get them to follow me back to their fenced area before it got dark. They went back to putting themselves to bed every night once I did that. I think giving them that first signal that bedtime was near helped. But I could be wrong.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

It may be a good time to lock them in the coop for a couple days to a week. Just a friendly reminder to your rebellious teenagers that there is a curfew and this is their roosting spot.

 

[deegee68]

Thanks for the tips. I just noticed re reading my post that I had a typo. The bratty teens are 17 weeks old not 11 and very vocal as of late!

 

[ANelson726]

Fun! They should be laying soon! Mine got very vocal right before the eggs showed up.