One chicken not roosting

[abmurry914]

Hello again,

We have 9 chickens that are about ten weeks old, they've been out in the coop for about 4 weeks now. The first week it was still pretty chilly at night and the girls weren't roosting at night, the were all huddling together. As time went on they began using the roosting bars. We have a 4x6 coop with 3 4ft long roosts. I've noticed in the last week or so that instead of spreading out all but one of the chickens are all sleeping on the top roosting bar. The one that isn't getting up there is sleeping on the floor in the corner. I did some reading and it said it may be because the coop is dirty, so I cleaned the coop out and she's still staying on the ground. Can anyone tell me why she's doing this?

 

[sourland]

She just hasn't figured things out yet. Trust me there are plenty of dirty coops in which the chickens readily roost.

 

[WallyG74]

When the others go to bed, slip in there and set the one up on the roost with the others. They tend to do what the majority does and I believe she will come around.

 

[abmurry914]

When the others go to bed, slip in there and set the one up on the roost with the others. They tend to do what the majority does and I believe she will come around.

Do you think it would be okay to put her up on a lower one, with the rest of them all sharing the top it's pretty tight up there. One of them even roosts on the frame up top instead of the roosting bar. They were using all three, then just all decided the top one was better lol. When they were all spread out our little ground lover was using the lowest with two of her sisters.

 

[WallyG74]

Like sourland said, she will figure it out. If you put her on a lower one she’ll be fine and most likely some of the others will join her if she doesn’t join them. I’m Just learning all this myself. And I can definitely agree that your hen isn’t judging the cleanliness of your coop.