Won't roost with her flock

[chickenfan]

I have a two-year old Marans, well established in her flock, that has stopped roosting in the house with the others. Does this mean that something might be wrong with her? She has just completed moulting and is fully feathered again. She was inseparable from her sister before so I find it strange that she's on the fence every night even in the rain and wind.

 

[chrismahon]

We've found that the moult can result in a change of pecking order Chickenfan. She may now be at the bottom and being bullied by her sister? We have a few that try to hide in the nest boxes rather than go on the perch with the others.

 

[chickenfan]

Thanks Chris, I've noticed that they drop in the pecking order when moulting, but she is fully feathered again. The Marans do seem a little more dominant than other breeds so perhaps one of the 2 younger ones is not being nice. Not sure what to do about my Marans group as the younger ones are quite fiesty (which is why I put all the marans together).

 

[chrismahon]

You could try a well aimed water pistol Chickenfan, or pick them up a lot more. Both these techniques have calmed birds down a lot for us. Obviously you can't get them wet in cold weather.

 

[dinosaw]

Try to hang around the coop at roosting time Chickenfan. It is often instructive to see what goes on at bedtime, if your bird attempts to enter the house but comes out after some noise then she is being pecked out, if another bird bars the door she is being bullied, if she just doesn't bother to try then it could be other factors. Just before I noticed the beginnings of a red mite outbreak earlier this year I had a single bird roosting by herself, we thought she must be getting bullied but she just roosted outside of her own volition, in retrospect it seems she must have been particularly sensitive to mite as she spotted them before us and once they were dealt with she returned to roosting in the house.

 

[chickenfan]

Thank you Dinosaw this is really helpful. I will watch more carefully. She was top of the pecking order previously which is why I'm puzzled. Interesting that picking them up might make the younger ones more friendly to other birds. But I have one or two marans that are lovely to pick up, but are ferocious with other birds. Perhaps they are just a bit less tolerant than other breeds. But some of my favourites are the marans and they can be very gentle too.

The water pistol training sounds a good idea.