What to do with a teenage chicken who won't sleep in coop?

[Lnzsmith]

Hi there, after a fox took one of our hens, we were down to one, so with winter coming we acquired two new ladies, a full grown Australorp and a baby Lavendar Orp. Well, she's fully feathered, so not a baby quite, but she sure acts like a baby. Anyway, we don't know how to get her to sleep in the coop! She insists on sleeping in the wet and drafty run, sometimes squashed up against the wire outside (I have visions of a coon dismembering her through the wire...it's pretty tight, but not completely). We try to put her with the adults and she JUMPS on them! But it's getting cold and she needs to get the routine down. Any ideas on how to train her to the coop? Last night we brought her in because it was raining BUCKETS and she was basically sleeping in a puddle...

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Lock her in. When I first got my new to me previously free-ranged slept in trees at night chickens - I just picked them up off of the roost in the run and locked them into their coop. They learned really quickly what they were supposed to do every night.

 

[SueT]

Maybe the elders won't allow her on the roost. Are there other roost choices?

 

[aart]

We try to put her with the adults and she JUMPS on them!

The youngest jumps on the older birds...like attacking them?
How old, in weeks or months, are all these birds?
How long since you added these 2 new birds?
How big is your coop, in feet by feet?
Pics would help.

 

[LoveMyChickenBabies]

Lock her in the place where you want her to sleep for 3-5 days. She will then start sleeping in there. I had to do that since I free-range my chickens. Make sure that she has food and water.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi there, after a fox took one of our hens, we were down to one, so with winter coming we acquired two new ladies, a full grown Australorp and a baby Lavendar Orp. Well, she's fully feathered, so not a baby quite, but she sure acts like a baby. Anyway, we don't know how to get her to sleep in the coop! She insists on sleeping in the wet and drafty run, sometimes squashed up against the wire outside (I have visions of a coon dismembering her through the wire...it's pretty tight, but not completely). We try to put her with the adults and she JUMPS on them! But it's getting cold and she needs to get the routine down. Any ideas on how to train her to the coop? Last night we brought her in because it was raining BUCKETS and she was basically sleeping in a puddle...

I'm guessing with your number of chickens your coop is really small. If so, what you are describing is pretty typical behavior. Until immature chickens mature enough to force their way into the pecking order they avoid more mature chickens. Usually for good reason. If they invade the mature chickens personal space they are likely to get pecked or worse. Occasionally I see juveniles leave my 8' x 12' coop to sleep though most of the time they find a safe place in the coop that is not the main roosts until they mature enough to move to the main coop. Usually that is about the time they start to lay.

I don't know how big your coop and run are or what they look like so it's hard to make specific suggestions. At least it sounds like your young one has enough room to avoid the adults during the day and you have had a successful integration.

I solved this problem by installing a juvenile roost a little lower than the main roosts, separated horizontally by a few feet, and higher than the nests. I had enough room to do that. You don't mention how old that young one is or if she is even roosting yet.

My suggestion is to find her a safe place to sleep where the older ones won't beat her up. Unless your coop is bigger than I think it is that might need to be in the run. When she matures enough to join the pecking order she will probably move to the main roosts with the adults.

 

[PouleChick]

Most of mine had wanting to sleep outside moments - I just pick them up and put them in, they don't like being picked up so after a few days they work it out. My Araucana (super timid) was the acception, she kept it up for about 2 months - mainly to do with her scaredness I think.

 

[Lnzsmith]

I actually am starting to suspect this chicken is sick. I'm going to migrate questions to the disease forum because to me she is just not acting right and she's getting lighter and lighter...she eats, but she sleeps during the day way too much....