Weird behavior?

[Oncoming Storm]

So, I have a bantam Cochin hen and a legbar that stays at up at my house and they roost on our porch railing (even though they know they’re not supposed to) and they sit together and cuddle and sleep. But for some reason we’ve found that the Cochin just kinda....sits in the middle of the yard in the darkness of night all alone. I’m wondering if she, since she’s black, feels safer being out of the light and in the dark to be more....camouflaged? We leave the porch lights on to deter the raccoons, it works to a point but at this point I think they’re more interested in our trash since the hens are smol and not as appetizing. Anyways I’m just wondering if there’s a reason Zulu just sits in the middle of the yard for seemingly no reason.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You should provide a secure coop for your birds. There's more than raccoons out there. Eventually something will make a snack out of them. Even roosting on a porch railing isn't safe. I'd hate for you to lose your birds.

I don't know why she would sit in the yard, perhaps she's avoiding the light, or had no where else to go.

 

[SueT]

They really need a secure coop to protect them from raccoons....the light is not enough to protect them, especially if one of them tries to get out of it and sits in the dark.

 

[smfarman]

They differently need a secure coop at night, I lost 18 chicks in 3 days because I thought my bran was secured enough. Since I built a coop 3 months ago I have not lost one chicken.

 

[Oncoming Storm]

You should provide a secure coop for your birds. There's more than raccoons out there. Eventually something will make a snack out of them. Even roosting on a porch railing isn't safe. I'd hate for you to lose your birds.

I don't know why she would sit in the yard, perhaps she's avoiding the light, or had no where else to go.

We had a secure area but our pig decimated it. I am very aware of the other predators but raccoons are the ones I have the most problems with. I had a good sized flock of meat birds and only have two now, the rest were taken by the bandits. Most others are detected by our cats which are surprisingly fond of our chickens and the pigs which are just outright scary, even if they do look like sausages. My mom wants to build a coop actually inside the pig pen for extra security. We actually have another flock down at our barn and they’re guarded by somebody livestock guardians so they’re relatively safe now. It’s strange though. I just chalked it it up to her wanting to blend in more but I'm clueless really.

 

[sourland]

She has a death wish which will soon be rewarded.

 

[smfarman]

We had a secure area but our pig decimated it. I am very aware of the other predators but raccoons are the ones I have the most problems with. I had a good sized flock of meat birds and only have two now, the rest were taken by the bandits. Most others are detected by our cats which are surprisingly fond of our chickens and the pigs which are just outright scary, even if they do look like sausages. My mom wants to build a coop actually inside the pig pen for extra security. We actually have another flock down at our barn and they’re guarded by somebody livestock guardians so they’re relatively safe now. It’s strange though. I just chalked it it up to her wanting to blend in more but I'm clueless really.

That sounds like a good idea, remember that there are also two legged predators as well and anything that makes it more difficult to get to the chickens is helpful. As for the one chicken that stays in the yard may think she has different was to escape. I wish you the best of luck

 

[so lucky]

Could you put those two in with the other flock?

 

[AuntieWeasel]

A chicken out of doors at night will be taken eventually. Pop her in with the others at dusk when everybody is feeling sleepy. She'll get in the habit eventually.

 

[Oncoming Storm]

Could you put those two in with the other flock?

See the thing is that there’s quite a distance between my house and my barn where my other flock is and getting them both down there would be nearly impossible. Another is that Zulu is a bantam and the flock comprises of pretty large birds and the rooster in charge is infamous for attacking our younger birds and killed my lavender orphington and my Spanish freaking white face that is irreplaceable so no I can’t put them down there because they’re not fully grown and I don’t want Dominique to kill them (I was ready to pull the trigger on him myself but my dad refuses to believe it’s him and blames my silkie mix roo which wasn’t even old enough at the time to do such a thing) I already have some almost full grown birds down there that I’m about to integrate in.