Sharon76 Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 Hi, I got 4 hens three days age (two pekins from one place and two hybrids from another). For the last three nights they have gone to sleep anywhere but the Eglu. Every night I have lifted them into it. They are in a secure WIR, so it isn't the biggest disaster if they sleep elsewhere. Will they ever learn? We are planning to let them free range in the garden but I am wondering if they will go back to the Eglu at night or will sleep in trees. Did anyone else's hens do this please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 What type of Eglu is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 (edited) I have 3 bantams who have a perfectly good cube but prefer to perch outside in the secure WIR. Even in the depth of winter. Bantams naturally roost high so if they’re happy, I’m happy. In fact, one group I had, did roost in the trees and we had to pluck them down each evening and stuff them in the cube! The cube is just a roomy next box. In fact, one prefers to lay in a cat carrier on the floor of the run! If they are secure I’d let them be, Edited April 17, 2019 by Patricia W Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyRoo Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 11 hours ago, Sharon76 said: Hi, I got 4 hens three days age (two pekins from one place and two hybrids from another). For the last three nights they have gone to sleep anywhere but the Eglu. Every night I have lifted them into it. They are in a secure WIR, so it isn't the biggest disaster if they sleep elsewhere. Will they ever learn? We are planning to let them free range in the garden but I am wondering if they will go back to the Eglu at night or will sleep in trees. Did anyone else's hens do this please? When you put them in the Eglu, did you close the door behind them? Usually it's wise to just leave them in there for an hour or so with the door closed so they come to understand that is where they're meant to be sleeping. You might have to repeat it a few times. That being said, I did have one hen before she passed who flatly refused to sleep in the cube with the others and always slept on the perch outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon76 Posted April 17, 2019 Author Share Posted April 17, 2019 Hi, it is a Go. We had hens about 6 years ago that slept in there no problem (although they started off with only the attached run so no other option initially). They have spent each night shut in the eglu. They don't seem upset by it. They don't even hurry out in the morning. Maybe I will give up shutting them in. No eggs yet but I wonder if they will lay them in eglu! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamrhind Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 Whilst my most recent hens were happy to lay in the Eglu (when in lay), they would leave its shelter, in rain, gales, snow and ice, to roost up a tree. It concerned me to see them clinging for dear life on the merest of twigs, but it didn't seem to do them any harm and I couldn't have climbed up to retrieve them in any case. Recently, my remaining hen has moved her roost across the field to the stables where she spends most of her time - I get visited occasionally when she wants a dust bath, but otherwise the Eglu is sitting there gathering dust like an expensive folly. We don't have a predator problem and I've always taken the view that, as long as she's not in danger, let her be. She's the picture of health despite everything.... That said, I won't be getting any more white hens. Mad as hatters ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 My original girls were happy in a Go, but when I got some new Dutch bantams last autumn they absolutely hated it. They just didn’t want to sleep at ground level. As soon as I moved them into the Cube with the rest of the gang they were fine. It seems some chooks just really don’t want to be on the ground. If the Go is in the WIR try putting it up on a table and see if that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon76 Posted April 18, 2019 Author Share Posted April 18, 2019 I will see if the table idea works. The WIR has been used at storage so some wooden slatted shelves are screwed in. Trouble is, whoever gets the top shelf poos on the underneath ones! It is like they are in bunk beds. I did think today that if they weren't going to sleep in the eglu I could get a few more pekins if I see any that take my fancy! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 I take it that you've checked for red mites in the Go! They are more prone to them than the Classic and mark 1 cube. Getting bitten will put them off wanting to go indoors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon76 Posted April 19, 2019 Author Share Posted April 19, 2019 I hosed out the eglu, and they haven't ever gone in it willingly. Eglu is up on a table now. I think they can jump in seeing as they slept on the shelves. I have put a plant pot under it with straw in in case anyone is desperate to lay an egg but doesn't like eglu. There is a plant pot with soil as I thought they might want a dust bath. The gate has been open all day. They were out in the garden for an hour this morning then went back in themselves and have been dozing in the sun. Any suggestions for run improvements? They will be free ranging in the garden almost everyday. If they choose. Which they aren't at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 Can you put some branches across the run? That’s where my bantams perch at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 Did you mite-proof it when you hosed it out, and which products did you use? they might just be contrary and fancy sleeping outside - plenty of chooks do. Installing a ramp up into the coop might help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajm200 Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 (edited) My bantams do sometimes try to sleep on the top shelf of a shelving unit like yours or on the top perch in the run (a natural branch cable tied to the run at approx 4ft). They get collected up and put into the cube if they don’t go voluntarily. They got better at going to bed in the cube since we moved it to the bigger secure run and leave the cube door open all night. We shut them into the run late afternoon before sunset and that helps. Fox attacks have always been late afternoon for us before the chickens would naturally return to the coop. Bantams do like to be high up do getting the cube up off the floor should help. Put them in every night and they should get the hint eventually. I had to remove the lower branches of our bay tree to keep them out of it. One used the perches in the run like a ladder and ended up sat on the frame of the open greenhouse roof vent 6ft up. Plastic coops are less prone to mites but they are still get in sometimes. Under the partition in the mk1 cube is where we find them. Spray the whole cube with a mite first just in case Edited April 19, 2019 by ajm200 Not sure what happened with the font Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon76 Posted April 21, 2019 Author Share Posted April 21, 2019 Thanks for your advice. I had a victory this evening! I scrutinised the eglu for mites but no sign of any (and it has been so many years since eglu used surely they would be dead now if there ever were any?). I scatter powder over the rungs at the bottom, but maybe I should buy some spray to spray in the gap between the roof and side panels? Anyway, while hens were out in garden I removed the wooden shelves which I had realised were going to be a nightmare to keep clean. I put the eglu on the table is the place where the shelves were, and a ladder up to it. When the hens went back to the run at dusk, they were very confused, looking quizzically at the eglu and behind it. The big hens climbed on the ladder and peered into it. The bluebell hen went in and out of it. Eventually 3 were in the eglu of their own accord. The other big one was really determined to find an alternative and tried to sit on the roof or the eglu and on tiny ledges. With a gentle shoo, that one went in! The door was then shut. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted April 21, 2019 Share Posted April 21, 2019 That's good news. Try incorporating the Nettex total mite kill ready t use spray (refills) and Buz Busters louse powder into your weekly clean - that'll keep any mites away. They can hibernate in housing without a blood feed for up to a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon76 Posted April 22, 2019 Author Share Posted April 22, 2019 I shall get that spray, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
