Won't Roost in Coop

[schristopher]

We have two chickens. We have a coop for them to roost in at night, and to lay their eggs in. They lay their eggs in the coop, but at night they will not go in the coop to roost. They have decided to roost on the back of our AC unit.

This makes for a messy AC unit. I'm sure the guys that come to service our unit will not appreciate this. I rinse most of it off, but it's an every day job, and I have to do it at night when I get home from work.

Does anyone know something I could try to discourage them from getting on the AC, and/or encourage them to use the coop.

Thanks!!!

 

[azygous]

Chickens are creatures of habit. Yours have gotten into a bad one. There's just one way to program them to get into the right habit. Go out at dusk and take the wayward darlings and place them on their proper perch in their coop.

Do it each night until they get into the new habit of doing it on their own. You may need to close the coop after you put them in to prevent them reverting to the AC as a roosting place. Or you can place something on top the until that prevents perching on it.

This could take a week or two, so be patient and consistent.

 

[DobieLover]

Your chickens need to be homed to their new coop.
Does it have an attached run?
Can you post pictures of the inside and outside of your coop?
If the coop is dark when they are ready to go to roost, they may be unwilling to enter. I burn a dusk to dawn 7 watt equivalent LED night light in my coop so it is never completely dark.

 

[Shadrach]

Given you write you have to do ti at night the placing them on their perch long after dark may not work so well.
They may just end up thinking this is normal bedtime routine.
I've found you need to do this at dusk, before they settle. Here they go up trees, or used to. I tried moving them at night for a few weeks and they didn't get the hint.
I found the easiest way was to be there at dusk with some treat food; a bit of tuna and bread, some minced meat, etc.
As soon as they got into the tree I would put the treat food on the ground by the coop and 'encourage' them out of the tree with a long pole.
By the time they finish eating it's getting dark enough for tree climbing not to look so inviting. Chickens don't see well in the dark. A tiny bit of encouragement and herding and they went into their coop.
Now some still do go up the tree but come straight down when I call them at roost time and go into their coop.
Roosting habits are hard to break once they get established. As far as the chickens are concerned up a tree is fine; their ancestors did it for generations.

 

[chickens really]

We have two chickens. We have a coop for them to roost in at night, and to lay their eggs in. They lay their eggs in the coop, but at night they will not go in the coop to roost. They have decided to roost on the back of our AC unit.

This makes for a messy AC unit. I'm sure the guys that come to service our unit will not appreciate this. I rinse most of it off, but it's an every day job, and I have to do it at night when I get home from work.

Does anyone know something I could try to discourage them from getting on the AC, and/or encourage them to use the coop.

Thanks!!!

Does it have a run too? Lock them in the Coop and Run for a week to train them the set up is home...

 

[feathermaid]

My chickens have been known to also hang out on the AC unit or other unwanted areas. I placed a piece of scrap hardware cloth over the top, it's wobbly and pokey and they do not find it comfortable. At the same time you do that, offer an alternative. A homemade yard roost could be anything from a simple A-frame (like a sawhorse) or an elaborate perch with multi levels. Adding perches in the run could help. Hopefully they can establish establish a new habit.

What does your coop interior look like? Chickens like to roost in the highest place available at night... they feel safer there.

I have a wood framed compost bin that my birds frequently hang out on too...
but now they seem to have also adopted my patio chair *sigh*

 

[azygous]

Man! Chickens can be such brats!

 

[robson1015]

We have two chickens. We have a coop for them to roost in at night, and to lay their eggs in. They lay their eggs in the coop, but at night they will not go in the coop to roost. They have decided to roost on the back of our AC unit.

This makes for a messy AC unit. I'm sure the guys that come to service our unit will not appreciate this. I rinse most of it off, but it's an every day job, and I have to do it at night when I get home from work.

Does anyone know something I could try to discourage them from getting on the AC, and/or encourage them to use the coop.

Thanks!!!

Put something on your AC unit that will prevent them from getting on it.

 

[LoveMyChickenBabies]

You could lock them in the coop for 3-4 days and then they will most likely start sleeping and roosting there. Another way to attract them to it is by putting a heat lamp in the coop so that way they will also be drawn to the heat.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

I have a handful of gals that like to roost in their roof-covered run instead of in the 2 coops that are attached to the run. I let them, except when frigid wind chills are in the forecast.

Definitely move them off the AC and into the coop....leave them cooped up for a few days. They will learn......

Good luck!