Why are my chickens aggressive at night when roosting?

[Annalyse]

Every night I have to deal with the hens either pecking really hard at each other or biting/pecking there feet hard and I have to keep intervening. It's always when there roosting. I mean throughout the day yes they are a little bit like dont touch my food or they hate sharing lol. Well my silkie sleeps alone on the second roosts bc they always pack and bully her so she gets hurt and I have to keep her safe. Any ideas why to any of this lol i dont know

 

[aart]

RoostTimeRumble.....the most contentious time of the day.

 

[sourland]

The chicken social order is not always kind. What you are describing is normal behavior. The only solution is more roost space or separate sleeping quarters.

 

[3KillerBs]

the coop is just a relax, laying egg, sleeping area plus food and water.

I'm sorry, but that thinking doesn't work.

The chickens need 4 square feet per bird INSIDE THE COOP (space taken up by the feeder, waterer, and nest boxes doesn't count), in addition to 10 square foot per bird in the run.

Also a square foot of ventilation per bird and a foot of roost space per bird.

Overcrowded chickens will show aggression to each other and their health will suffer.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Unless they're drawing blood, you need to quit intervening. This is normal, pecking order establishment or reinforcement. Chickens really need to work this out among themselves.

 

[aart]

Sorry but I'm not getting rid of my babies but I will take a picture when u get home

You'd rather they suffer living in inadequate housing?
It's one of the hard things about chickeneering,
sometimes you have to remove birds for the good of the flock.

it wont let me add pictures

Might find help here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/announcements-feedback-issues-guides.3/?prefix_id=3

or start a thread here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/announcements-feedback-issues-guides.3/
.... with your device and software details

 

[RobertaD1]

file:///home/chronos/u-091475c5e01aacd8d85349154bf6b26158844787/MyFiles/Downloads/Chickens%20(3).pdf
Copy and paste this link into google and it should bring you to the pictures.

I'm pretty sure this is a link to a personal computer file, not something online. So we cant access it.

 

[Birdsong 82]

Yes. There is fuss every night as my girls get their spot roosting ( just usually to end up in the same place). So I wouldn't intervene unless there is blood being drawn.
Overcrowding will also cause aggression towards each other ( along with other things) but I can't say because don't know the size of your coop or size of roosting area so don't know if it's overcrowding issue or not

 

[NatJ]

My coop is small. I wasnt planning on 7 chickens cause I thought I was getting 4 well that didnt go well lol so we gave them a much bigger run so the coop is just a relax, laying egg, sleeping area plus food and water. I'm trying my best to keep them comfortable

If you never close them into the coop, that might work.
Especially if the run has a roof over at least part of it, and some shelter from wind.

But if they are shut in the coop until you let them out in the morning
Or if there is rain and they need to stay inside to be dry
Or if it snows and they refuse to go out in that strange white stuff
Or if there's a heavy wind and they need to come inside to be out of the wind

Then they need enough COOP space.

As 3KillerB's said, plan on 4 square feet per chicken in the coop, plus a foot of roost space per chicken. And of course they will all want that roost space to be on the highest available roost

 

[Ebony Rose]

Is there any way that you can turn the bottom roost to go in the same direction as the upper roost, while not allowing it to be directly underneath of it? That one change would sort out a slew of problems, including birds on the lower rung being pooped on all night.