Stubborn SLW roosting issues

[snow5164]

Why not try the ribbon ? Anything that moves could concern her..... she is your squeaky wheel

 

[Shadrach]

Lets see if I can be a bit more helpful.
Have a look at the picture below. There are two poles with a T piece at the ends.
I’ve got lots of professional tree hugging chickens. All the chickens here are free range.
I started off climbing ladders and trees at stupid o’clock in the evenings in all weathers and eventually decided that
a) I was likely to break my neck one night and
b) There must be a better way of getting them out of the trees.

When a chicken is in its roosting position you can apply pressure to the area between the knee and ankle joint and the chicken will step back onto whatever is applying the pressure. It’s a reflex action. I made the poles shown in the picture to apply this pressure. The T piece needs to be the width of the chickens normal stance.

There is a catch. If you apply this pressure while there is sufficient light for the chicken to be confident of being able to take flight and land safely then often the chicken will step back onto the T piece and then either take flight, or in my case, hop onto another branch. You need to use the pole at the right light levels to avoid this problem.

If you make one of these poles you or your other half won’t need to climb ladders at night.

Next, I really wanted the chickens to come out of the trees without having to use the poles. I changed their routine and chickens love a routine. I feed them their layers pellets around mid afternoon and in the evenings I feed them their treat food. At first I had to ‘encourage’ the more recalcitrant chickens out of the trees with one of the poles. Eventually they got the idea and at dusk when I feed them their treats now I just have to call them and they come down and go into their coops.

Once again, timing is important. If you give them their treat food to early and the light is still good they go back up the trees. Feed them close to dark, then tree climbing doesn’t look such a good idea because they don’t see well in the dark.

The next point that you can use to your advantage is chickens in general don’t like being on the ground in the dark. So if you can get your chicken on the ground at roosting time there is a good chance it will go into the coop of its own volition.

I see you have horizontal bars close to the roof of the run. If you removed these, if its possible then the chicken wouldn’t have a high roost out of the coop to get on to and once again it would be on the ground and more likely to seek a roost spot in the coop.

All the above being said, I have one hen that just will not go into her coop at dusk unless it’s raining hard or, more interestingly, unless she is intending to sit on eggs the next day.

I get this hen out of a tree every night bar the above and have been for the past five years!
I hope you can make some use of my experiences.

 

[Shadrach]

I agree it is normal ,but yours all end up on the perch after bickering.... if one was outside all alone you would
(or should )be concerned and try to figure out why ?? Try to walk in their shoes ... that’s how you could understand, have a good day !!

it's a problem, I admit. I've spent the past 7 years living with a load of chickens half way up a mountain. Some weeks I may, if I'm feeling particularly friendly, speak half a dozen words to a human. I seem to have gone feral.
Normally it's not a problem but here....well I have good days and not so good.

 

[aart]

The run is a large mechanical equipment enclosure that hubby was able to procure from work.

What a great grab!!

or should I try something more solid instead?

I would just stick a piece of cardboard up there for now, looks like there is another cross beam at same height that would need blocking too...or she might go to the roof instead.

How old are these birds and did you get them at the same time?
But they lived together before and cooped up just fine.
<scratcheshead>Sorry, babbling thoughts.
How long have they been in the new coop?

You might just have to keep putting her inside until she gets with the program.
They can be stubborn in their habits.
Have you ever kept them confined to just the coop for a couple-few days 24/7?
If it's not too hot, it might be worth a try.

 

[Matzwd]

If you make one of these poles you or your other half won’t need to climb ladders at night.

I like the idea of chicken pickin poles. Definitely beats climbing ladders!

Feed them close to dark, then tree climbing doesn’t look such a good idea because they don’t see well in the dark.

Genius! I'm doing this starting tomorrow. Just curious, what treats do you give? Scratch maybe?

I see you have horizontal bars close to the roof of the run. If you removed these

They are an integral part of the structure and cannot be removed.

one hen that just will not go into her coop at dusk unless it’s raining hard

I've been on a ladder in the dark, in the pouring rain to get mine down too. I'd really love to make the coop her preferred sleeping spot.

 

[Matzwd]

I would just stick a piece of cardboard up there for now

I'll be filling that void tomorrow with whatever I can find to block it.

How old are these birds and did you get them at the same time?
But they lived together before and cooped up just fine.

They are 22-23 weeks old. Only the sex link is laying so far. They were all raised together from day old chicks. They have been housed in a smaller coop together prior to this, and it wasn't a problem.

Have you ever kept them confined to just the coop for a couple-few days 24/7?

They've been in the big coop since the end of July. They have been enclosed in the run immediately surrounding the coop, but not into the coop itself. Way to hot here this summer for that. It's starting to cool off now. Is it too late to lock them in now?

 

[Shadrach]

I like the idea of chicken pickin poles. Definitely beats climbing ladders!



Genius! I'm doing this starting tomorrow. Just curious, what treats do you give? Scratch maybe?



They are an integral part of the structure and cannot be removed.



I've been on a ladder in the dark, in the pouring rain to get mine down too. I'd really love , to make the coop her preferred sleeping spot.

Shame you can't move the horizontal bars....problem solved.
I started feeding them small bits of cheese, sunflower seeds, oats etc and bit by bit added layers feed again. They till get treats at dusk, just not as much.
If you can find a way of making the the horizontal bars unpleasant to perch on she will have to stay on the ground; you're halfway there then.

 

[aart]

It's starting to cool off now. Is it too late to lock them in now?

Never too late to try something like that....not sure it will do any good tho.
If she's low bird and there's some real aggression going on it could make it worse. or it could force her to find her place.

You could try to be out there during roost time and sit for an hour or two and watch to see what's going on.

Shame you can't move the horizontal bars....problem solved.

I was wondering this about the bars out in the run, the ones this bird is choosing to roost on, not sure how important it is to the structure that it be there.

 

[Matzwd]

So, I put the flash tape up Wednesday, along with a solar light that would light up the inside of the coop so the girls could get situated at bedtime. That night, Lacey went into the coop and slept on the floor with the rooster. Yay!!

Well, of course, it wasn't that easy. Thursday night, Miss Lacey decided to look for a new spot outside, so she left the inside run and tried to roost on the fence of the outside run. I put her in the coop again.

Tonight, she was looking all around the inner run for someplace to fly up to (I had closed the doors so she wouldn't go to the outer run, which is just a five-foot chain link fence). I snatched her up and put her in the coop before the hen that's mean to her went in. She used the light to scope out the situation and really looked as if she was weighing her options, checking out all the roosts and their occupants. She decided to roost next to the Polish girl, who is intolerant of everyone at bedtime and pecked her repeatedly. Lacey was trapped in a corner at that point, and I picked her up and set her on the roost with the other girls, next to Nugget the Welsummer, who seems to do fine with all her sisters. Lacey happily settled in next to her, at the end of the row to sleep. I hope she remembers that spot.

Is this too much interference? I just want her to know that there are some safe spots in the coop. Essentially, there are two hens that are mean to her... Penny the Cinnamon Queen, who is the only one who is laying so far and is mean only to Lacey all the time, pecking her anytime she is nearby. Lacey runs when she notices her close. The other is CJ the Polish hen who is just slightly sassy to everyone all the time and very bossy at bedtime. No one sleeps next to her.

 

[New2Chicks97]

If it were me I think I would just let her be once you get her in the coop. If she is buddies with the silkie then at least he has one friend Since everything looks very secure I don't see what the possible harm could be in letting her sleep down there with him.

I struggle with my daughter's silkies nightly as we have them in an A frame style coop with the sleeping area up top with a ramp. Those little buggers will NOT go up the ramp. So every single night I have to put them up in the sleeping area. I can't wait until we finish the big coop and can move them into the smaller existing coop that the big girls are now in.