Cube mk2 and WIR

[benstein]

We've had 3 gingernuts in an Eglu for about 2 months. They've been going inside the coop to sleep every night, just after dark.

 

Two nights ago, two of them went into the coop, but the third just stayed outside in the run. She couldn't be coaxed in. It even started raining and she wouldn't enter.

 

The next night, only one of them slept in the coop while two slept outside. We cleaned the Eglu thoroughly today and don't see anything out of the ordinary.

 

And alas, again tonight two of them are sleeping outside.

 

Has anyone seen this behavior before? It seems weird that they've happily slept inside for the past 8 weeks and then suddenly stopped. As an aside, they have been laying eggs normally in the coop the entire time, so it's not like they can't go in there...

 

Thanks for any suggestions!

[Egluntyne]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

 

How odd.

 

Normally hens are reluctant to return to the coop at night if there is an infestation of red mite, but this is unlikely, although not impossible in an Eglu.

 

To be on the safe side why not give the hens and the Eglu a dusting with some Diatomaceous Earth (DE) or red mite powder.

 

We have Barrier Red Mite Powder over here. I don't know if this is available in the US.

 

When you were cleaning did you notice any grey deposits in the Eglu that resembled cigarette ash, or any tiny red blobs? Either of these would indicate red mite.

 

When my first hens were new they wouldn't go in the Eglu, so I waved a broom about in the run and they went in to get away from it. Maybe you could try that.

[Sandychick]

Just a thought but are they deffinately staying out all night or just going to bed late?? The reason I ask is that I put 2 branch perches in the run for mine and initially thought they were sleeping on those. After sitting and watching one night they seem to have a bedtime routine where Amber goes to bed just before dusk and Pepper and Willow like to snuggle up on the perch until its really dark, then go off for a good nights sleep in the eglu with Amber.

[hilda-and-evadne]

Has anyone seen this behavior before? It seems weird that they've happily slept inside for the past 8 weeks and then suddenly stopped.

 

It was when - about four months after I got my two Gingernuts - I noticed Evadne regularly hanging about the run long after Hilda had gone to bed in the eglu that it first occurred to me that she was waiting until Hilda was asleep, so that she didn't get pecked when they were both roosting in the eglu. (Both of them still laid eggs in the eglu.) Later, it became obvious that it was in the period between going into the eglu for the night and actually going to sleep that Hilda would pull feathers out of Evadne roosting next to her. I would look in the eglu, through the eggport, after they had both gone to bed and sometimes find Evadne almost upside down in her attempt to keep her backside out of Hilda's reach.

 

Now I separate them at night.

 

Hope this helps.

[benstein]

Wow, thanks for all the replies everyone! I'll try to be a little more observant tonight and see if I notice anything else. But it sounds somewhat common and that there's probably nothing too serious going on...

[chickenanne]

I'd suggest it's either red mite or bullying, too....

Once they're dozy after dark even the msot aggressive should be placid enough to share amicably; also its sometimes better to let them sort out the pecking order for themselves, depending on how bad it gets.

[Guest]

it's weird to think of chickens in New York! Then again I'm thinking of Manhattan

 

 

just spotted this in your blog; "“ So long Scrabulous, and thanks for all the i’s. ” very funny, I always seem to end up with 5 i's, grrrrrr

 

your beagle is so gorgeous too!!!!!

[MadMitch]

My two silver dorkings are not sleeping in the cube at the moment, they have taken to sleeping on top of it, they have done it for the last 8 nights, but all the others are still going in.