Hen not going to the coop - pictures

[Plants]

Our hen Toffe has been with us for about 3 weeks, must be around 20 or 22 weeks and we noticed that the hen is not going to the coop.

We built an add on coop that was separated with a net from the original one (has nesting boxes). The two new hens, Nix and Toffe, have been sleeping in boxes and on the roost bars. We removed the net and hens sleep as usual, 2 in the old coop and the 2 new in the add on.

For the last few days, Toffe, a Golden Campine that is quite frightened, is looking up the trees and garden walls to jump and sleep there. I am afraid that it may succeed and flee.

We built some high bars, and Toffe has options to roost with flat roosts and a log, but it only does it if we lock it in the run where the coop is. Maybe I should make it more visible or build some other roosting bars in the run? We have boxesnon the ground now so they can reach the bars.
Or is it possible that the bird doesn't feel safe because of some coop drama at night, and refuses to go? Sure Toffe is at the bottom of the pecking order, but she"s not really bullied.

I don't know if this can be adressed or if it's just temporary, any ideas?
Thanks!

 

[FrostRanger]

How many total birds do you have and what are the dimensions of the coop in feet?

 

[Plants]

How many total birds do you have and what are the dimensions of the coop in feet?

We have 4 hens, 2 new and 2 older.

The old coop is 4,6 ×4,6 ft (1,4m)
The add on is 4,6 x 2,62 ft (1,4 x 0,8m)

 

[BDutch]

Golden Campines are a heritage breed that is capable to fly in trees to sleep. Maybe she will prefer this over sleeping in a cage. But that doesn't mean she will actually flee. Your environment is her home and she will always return to her flock mate(s) and the food resource she knows.

I had heritage chickens who actually did this. But I didnt want them to sleep in the tree or outside on top of the run for safety reasons. So I make sure to have them locked up before sunset. I had to for a couple of weeks to break this habit after they managed to sleep in a tree/got lost somewhere in the dark.

Do you free range your hens? Do you have an open or a covered run attached? Can you add a few pictures of the outside of the whole set up?
If you don’t want her to sleep outside the coop you have to make sure she is locked in a (hwc/strong net) covered run/coop before the sun sets. Easiest
way to do so is to give a little scratch in the run in the evening and keep them safely inside the combination till the next day.

To please your Campine you can make a larger/higher coop with a high roost.
Maybe you need to build an attached and safe run to reduce stress before roost time and in the morning.

 

[Plants]

Golden Campines are a heritage breed that is capable to fly in trees to sleep. Maybe she will prefer this over sleeping in a cage. But that doesn't mean she will actually flee. Your environment is her home and she will always return to her flock mate(s) and the food resource she knows.

I had heritage chickens who actually did this. But I didnt want them to sleep in the tree or outside on top of the run for safety reasons. So I make sure to have them locked up before sunset. I had to for a couple of weeks to break this habit after they managed to sleep in a tree/got lost somewhere in the dark.

Do you free range your hens? Do you have an open or a covered run attached? Can you add a few pictures of the outside of the whole set up?
If you don’t want her to sleep outside the coop you have to make sure she is locked in a (hwc/strong net) covered run/coop before the sun sets. Easiest
way to do so is to give a little scratch in the run in the evening and keep them safely inside the combination till the next day.

To please your Campine you can make a larger/higher coop with a high roost.
Maybe you need to build an attached and safe run to reduce stress before roost time and in the morning.

Alright, that's good to keep in mind! We'll have to look for options because we cannot go higher than 2m due to town regulations...

We keep them outside all day long and they can be in the run as soon as they wake up. We noticed that she likes to be elevated, standing on our table or somewhere else. We saw a hawk in our garden months ago, but predators are not a thing here in the city and we're covered by tall trees. Our hens scare off the cats during the day, so that's also ok.

The garden is about 4 x 12 meters, but it's a city garden and we have 2m brick walls surrounding the garden. The veggie garden is out ouf bounds, as well as the fenced area(even if they can stick their heads out and forage there). We are also growing more green for our babies to keep them entertained.
The log in the run will have some roosts attached, maybe she will go there if we set them high enough? As long as she sleeps in the run, there is no problem!!

The only tree that Toffe could reach is a hazelnut tree that i dont see big enough to roost. The other area where she tried to jump is the wall, which was really close... jumping straight from the ground.

Thanks a lot for the help and the information, good to know the hens better!!

Edit: as I was posting this, she went straight to the coop!

 

[Loving my girls]

I would wait til she is asleep and then put her into the coop and repeat …
Eventually she should get the idea
Of course hen space and the hierarchy is always an issue so perhaps another perch or recalculating the space per hen ?
Alternatively perhaps she just likes the outdoors and, as she is in your garden why not leave her there as a last resort. Normally though they do like to be snuggled with their friends and family
Sorry if these things have been covered already, I’m in a rush and just wanted to help if I can
Hugz

 

[BDutch]

For 4 hens your garden provides enough space even if half of it is out of reach. 4m2 for each hen is organic standard.

A 2 m high coop is high enough to make a high roost (at 1,50 m) for sure.

My main concern would be the Campine will jumpin on the garden wall and get over it. You may need to cut her wings if she does, or ask your neighbours If they don’t mind.
My neighbours are fine with it that my chickens come into their garden.

This should be interesting read for you. ;
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/getting-chickens-out-of-trees-and-into-their-coops.75511/

 

[Plants]

Thats a nice article, thanks for the link!

We are just done building the new coop, but doing some modifications seems necessary

there are a lot of cats in our block and sleeping outside may not be the safest option, but if that is what she wants I would love to let her...