Top Chicken will not let other 2 roost with her, help!

[isaacsibley]

Hi, I have 2 Australorps and 1 Sussex. They are doing very well and are my first chickens ever! The Australorps are about 2 months old with the Sussex being around 3 months. They are very friendly and love cuddling together during the day in the dirt or wherever they want. They have lots of room in the coop and send themselves to bed with me locking them up right after. Whenever I come to lock them up the two Australorps are in the nesting box with the Sussex roosting on one of the bars. There are about 3 roosting bars so they have lots of options but the Sussex always pecks at them when they try to roost with her. Is this bad and if so how do I fix this and help the Australorps to roost?

 

[isaacsibley]

Could you post a pic of your coop ?
If there’s 3 roosts and there’s plenty of space then her pecking them wouldn’t cause them to use the nesting boxes instead of the roosts

This is the one we have, I also installed another roosting bar just a bit higher than the others which makes it three as well as the existing two.

 

[isaacsibley]

Could you post a pic of your coop ?
If there’s 3 roosts and there’s plenty of space then her pecking them wouldn’t cause them to use the nesting boxes instead of the roosts

Inside of it without sawdust and without the other roosting bar.

 

[chickens really]

Yes. It's a bit crowded so that's the problem.

 

[aart]

The bar near the door is basically unusable...too close to the wall(door when closed)....even for such small birds.
The crowding is going to get worse as they get bigger.

 

[paneubert]

Also doesn't help that the roost bars are basically at the same height as the nest boxes. There is no incentive for them to use the bars when they can just sleep in the nests.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Which bar is the dominant bird using? Assuming she's using the 3rd one you added (since you said it was higher) I'd actually try taking out the lower 2. They're nearly useless with where they're placed, so it's making a tight space even tighter.

Also how long is the roost? Ideally you'd want 12" per bird, but not sure if that's feasible in this setup.

You do NOT want birds sleeping in the nest boxes because they poop throughout the night. So once they start laying, that means eggs will end up sitting in poop if you're not cleaning the boxes daily.

 

[isaacsibley]

The bar near the door is basically unusable...too close to the wall(door when closed)....even for such small birds.
The crowding is going to get worse as they get bigger.

Yes, I have realized this after checking on them recently. Gonna have to get a bigger coop!

 

[isaacsibley]

Which bar is the dominant bird using? Assuming she's using the 3rd one you added (since you said it was higher) I'd actually try taking out the lower 2. They're nearly useless with where they're placed, so it's making a tight space even tighter.

Also how long is the roost? Ideally you'd want 12" per bird, but not sure if that's feasible in this setup.

You do NOT want birds sleeping in the nest boxes because they poop throughout the night. So once they start laying, that means eggs will end up sitting in poop if you're not cleaning the boxes daily.

Great thanks for the advice, appreciate it. Gonna have to upgrade and get a bigger coop.

 

[123RedBeard]

Block off the nesting boxes.

As said get rid of the roost closest to door, make others same height, but higher than nests ... put above the pop door and nest ...

If Sussex is still a brat, remove her for a day or three, gives the others a chance to learn the roosts, and may drop the Sussex in the pecking order, or atleast even it out ...