marenwise
In the Brooder
Hello. I have three 23 week old chickens (an easter egger, buckeye and a blue andalusian) and they have been coop trained since we moved them from the brooder. I never had any problems, I confined them to the coop for 3 days and voila, they went back to the coop every night to sleep without ever missing a night.
All of a sudden two weeks ago I discovered they are sleeping on the roof of the coop instead of going inside at night. I've been putting them in the coop each evening. Is there something that can be causing this? My coop is clean, it was when they started this new trend and I've cleaned it since this new habit. They aren't scratching excessively so I don't think I have a mite problem. The only change is that I opened up the nest boxes since the blue andalusian started laying at 21 weeks. Could the laying be causing this?
My husband and I are building a new coop in a few months that will be bigger and the roof wont be accessible to the chickens. I went with a pre-made kit for our first coop with the intent of building our own, exactly how we want by summer. Perhaps when we move to the new coop that will take care of the problem itself? Should I simply keep putting them inside every night until then?
Any suggestions would be great. I will be integrating 2 new pullets I raised from chicks in a couple months and I'd really like to have this bad habit kicked so my new gals don't quit roosting in the coop at night too.
All of a sudden two weeks ago I discovered they are sleeping on the roof of the coop instead of going inside at night. I've been putting them in the coop each evening. Is there something that can be causing this? My coop is clean, it was when they started this new trend and I've cleaned it since this new habit. They aren't scratching excessively so I don't think I have a mite problem. The only change is that I opened up the nest boxes since the blue andalusian started laying at 21 weeks. Could the laying be causing this?
My husband and I are building a new coop in a few months that will be bigger and the roof wont be accessible to the chickens. I went with a pre-made kit for our first coop with the intent of building our own, exactly how we want by summer. Perhaps when we move to the new coop that will take care of the problem itself? Should I simply keep putting them inside every night until then?
Any suggestions would be great. I will be integrating 2 new pullets I raised from chicks in a couple months and I'd really like to have this bad habit kicked so my new gals don't quit roosting in the coop at night too.