concerned my flock won't go inside to roost at night

My flock consist of 3 red sex links, and 3 foghorns. The past 2 months they do not want to go inside to roost and have been wanting to sleep outside on top of their prefab coop. It is cramped but made for 6 to 8, two would sit in the bedding where they lay, and others on the post. I converted a dog house for a larger coop, they do not go in there unless I have the other one blocked off. They pine for their original coop and I give in and let them go to their original coop. My concern is I cannot lock them in at night. I was putting them in every night for about 3 week, that got old. Is this normal, since it is warm out?

Build something cozy you would feel comfortable sleeping in, add some sweet grass bedding and throw in some tasty scratch. Leave a trail of scratch to their new chicken luxury condo, and they'll go in. Trust me!

I have done that several nights in a row to get them to go into the converted dog house, but they refer to be in the original one. I was wondering why they decided to go on top. At first I thought one was bullying the others. Sometimes just one will go inside, the rest outside. I suppose I will continue to have corn in there by dusk every night for a week to see if they will go in. If the original coop is not available they will go to the converted dog house, which is what I want, but concerned why they not wanting inside the original, and stay on top. Thank you Cluckadoddledo.

How old are they?

Have you checked for red mite? The little crawlers come out at night and feed on the birds while they sleep. This puts the birds off going in, knowing they are going to spend the night itching and being bitten!!

No, I have not. I clean their sleeping area every morning. Keep it open all day to dry out. I will do some research on them and let you know. Thanks happyhens 1972.

Red mites are not going to be eradicated by just washing I'm afraid. They wedge themselves into the tiniest nooks and crannies and will resist even concerted efforts to scrub them out!

If you have red mite, I would recommend soaking your coop in one of the many chemical solutions available as your frontline defence then back it up with a heavy and thorough dusting of Diatomaceous Earth once the house is dry.

The mites don't live on the bird, they live in the house and come out at night to feed but if you treat your birds with something like Ivermectin spot-on, this will also help at night when the beasties come out, until you have got rid of the problem.

If you take one of your birds off their perch at night and give them a good ruffle up over a sheet of white paper, you will see if you have red mite as they will drop off and show up against the white. You can also use a torch to see if you can see them crawling along the perches, looking for their 'sitting supper'.

If red mite are left untreated, not only will they put your birds off roosting, thereby maybe exposing them to predator issues because they are not in the house, but the red mite will find the birds, even on top of the house and over time, will begin to deplete their energy levels and can leave them aneamic at best and dead at worst.....broodies are particularly vulnerable due to the length of time they spend in the house, making them an all day breakfast!

My girls are just over a year old. I did a lot of research on the mites, every 7 days they hatch. ETC. Last night I went out with a torch and checked the coop. I did see a few red mites on the door where they roost. Probably one of those things if you see one you may have 1000 deal. So today, I ordered the DE and scrubbed down the coop with a 15 to 1 water and bleach. I was looking at some sites for holistic treatments. Such as garlic in water, spraying area with an oil , water and dish soap to smother eggs. I may have that on had after I hit the coop with DE. I did check some of the girls for bugs. On one I did see some clear bugs crawling down in the skin. I suppose those may be it.

I have one that had her butt feathers pulled by our yorkie, and she is always dirty back there. There is area of skin exposed around her pooper about 2.5 inches around. I am not sure if that is normal. I was concerned that she was infected and possible bugs around the area. So she had a bath today. She didn't have any bugs, but now she(foghorn) looks very pretty now. Cannot tell her apart from the others because her back side is cleaner! Going to check the coop here in a minute to see if there are any red bugs in there. I will grab one of the girls and shake her above some paper. So those few bugs I did see on one of my girls, do you think they were the mites? Is it true if you see one you have more?

Like from my original post, I am concerned they are perching on top of the house and unable to lock them in at night. We keep a live trap about 40 yards away. We did have opossum.

I just checked the coop. Clean as a whistle. Getting DE in 2 days from Amazon. Will give it a dust to take precautions. Thanks , will keep you posted

Fancypants1 said:

How old are they?

Click to expand...

They are 3 are fog horns 1 year 1 month, 3 are red sex links 1 year and 4 months.

Yes, if you see one red mite, I guarantee there are a whole bunch more you haven't seen. As for the bug you saw on your chicken, it could be red mite but could just as easily be a louse.....there are several species that prey on birds. Either way, if you are unwilling to use chemical means to be rid of them (which I would recommend) then the DE can be safely used on the birds too.....give them a liberal dusting then add it to their dust bath.