Why would one hen roost alone?

[Linnre]

I have 6 hens. Three are about 18 months old and two are layers. (One laid for 6 weeks then stopped in the spring). Three are 7 months old and two of these are layers. For the past week or so I have noticed one of the older hens, a layer, has been roosting on another bar by herself. She’s maybe two feet from the others. Why would she do this? She’s not bullied by the others in fact she still will bully the younger ones. The weather will be getting down to 20 later this week. If she continues, should I move her to the other bar with the others?

 

[alinas2010]

They can be so picky about settling in at night. So and so can’t sleep next to what’s her name, what’s her name only wants to be by this one, but this one wants to be on the end and away from that one We only have 4, but occasionally I’ll catch one roosting alone, too. No one is super mean to her, but it seems that they all do peck each other while settling in. I think she just gets fed up with it more quickly, because she is the most docile hen we have. I do move her next to the others if it’s cold temps. Idk if that’s nice or mean to do, but I don’t want her to get cold and she stays put once the lights are off. I find that if I turn the lights off early, they squabble less at bed time.

 

[TheFugitivePen]

I notice this on occasion with our little flock, too. We have 8 Australorps who were all brooder mates. We have two roosting bars, one higher than the other, maybe 18 inches apart. Nearly every night, there's one or two hens who choose the shorter bar, and the rest huddle on the tall, long one.

If it's going to be freezing or below, I move them into space on the big, tall bar so everyone is huddled together. It usually takes them a minute or so, but they settle down and snuggle right in. If someone is unhappy with her "new" neighbor, I may rearrange them or turn her around so her head is parallel to her neighbor's tail rather than her face (that seems to stop the urge to peck).

I stay long enough to make sure they're settled (and sneak in some extra pets they won't let me have in daylight lol).

Once I leave, they're asleep in minutes.

 

[Coops Dad]

She'll huddle with the others if it gets too cold for her. I have a couple that flat out refuse to roost with anyone else and end up on the roof of the coop, on the lid of the fees barrel and on the rack of bagged feed. They get along during the day but apparently don't enjoy snuggling at night.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Maybe I am a bad chicken owner but I have no idea who sleeps where so if this were happening in my coop I wouldn't even notice, much less sneak in to rearrange them lol. I do have a chicken with bad feet who used to sleep on the very bottom rung of their roost ladder and taking that and her struggle with the ramp into account I moved her to a different coop and now she sleeps tucked up with the flock. The only reason I checked on the sleeping arrangements was because sometimes she wouldn't make it into the coop at all. Unless you notice something else going on with this chicken I really wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Linnre]

I sure love having the Ring video to watch them. I watch them sometimes wait in line to lay in the mornings. But yeah, if not for that, I wouldn’t know what was going on in there. I sure hope she decides to join the others on her own Thursday night when it gets cold! Brrrrr! I’d prefer not to go out but probably would!

Thanks for the comments. I kept coming back to see if anyone commented and didn’t see anything. Then realized y’all were commenting all along!

Chickens are funny!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Yes they are funny! I have poop trays under my roosts, and I have two or three hens that sleep IN the poop trays! One BA I'm convinced sleeps there bc she is the third wife and that's the closest she can get to Rojo Magnifico, the well-loved rooster! The other two ... I can't even guess.

 

[Mrs. K]

Think about sitting at a football game in your fluffy winter coat. You are probably sitting close together - but that is to block the wind. Once in your coat- you really are not sharing warmth with anyone else. Your coat keeps your own body's warmth next to you.

I would not worry about it, if they have good draft protection.

Mrs K

 

[3KillerBs]

Maybe I am a bad chicken owner but I have no idea who sleeps where so if this were happening in my coop I wouldn't even notice,

Same here. If they're not in the nest boxes I don't care where they are.

 

[Linnre]

UPDATE:

Tonight I was out at dusk and they were settling in and Cindy was sitting again on her separate roost bar. I opened the coop and moved her close to the others. By the time I came in and checked the video she was back on her own bar.

Answers my question as to whether I should move her Thursday when it gets to 18 degrees. I will just let her decide. She seems to know what she wants.

Actually I’m with her. I prefer my space as well!