Chickens won't go home...

[Lauravonsmurf]

You have to teach them to go in. I had to teach mine. I also treated them and used a command each time I put a bird in the coop... I use "go in your house". In addition I think others are right the coop maybe hot at night, inside my coop during the summer they do not sleep in the inside spot as the coop needs modification but they are in the caged area. Also they need to feel the coop is their safe space... do not use the coop to force interaction this stresses them... watch some gentle training methods on parrots, many things we do innocently are actually seen as aggression by birds... one is using cages to try and pet birds for example, petting in general. But consider heat issues, treats, roosts (they may not like the roost), ladder into coop, also make sure coop is clean. As to flock dynamics, as long as they are not fighting don't stress about that... pecking order is a real thing and applying human ideals to chickens is not good, respect how they are... they do not think like humans... trying to force them to act how we think humans should might cause fights.

 

[Saint_ Marwenne_Chickens]

I don't have a small coop. I'm trying to help with @MrsBall1127 's problem.

 

[aart]

@MrsBall1127 and @Saint_ Marwenne_Chickens
Both your coops are small and don't have near enough ventilation for your climates,
that is why your birds prefer not to sleep in the coop.

I don't have a small coop. I'm trying to help with @MrsBall1127 's problem.

Sorry SMC..... I meant @MrsBall1127 coops is small.

 

[Saint_ Marwenne_Chickens]

Sorry SMC..... I meant @MrsBall1127 coops is small.

It's fine, I understand what you mean. It is a major problem.
Perhaps it could be solved by getting a bigger, better coop

 

[lazy gardener]

Hi, all! It's been a busy couple of days. I'm the OP'S wife. The coop is 6 x 4 x 4. We have 5 RIRs (probably 3 months old) and a a Red Sex Link that acts as their mother(about 4 months old). That is the first "flock"
The second are three girls we raised together, an EE, Sussex, and a wyandotte. They act as a separate flock.
Ventilation is a 18x4 rectangle cutout and covered with hardware cloth on the east and west side. As it is very hot during the day here in Oklahoma, and we have little to no shade, we're uncomfortable with leaving them in for a day. It's 2:50 am as I type this, and the temperature is 75 f.

If I'm understanding you correctly, your coop has 16 s.f. of floor space. Assuming that NONE of that space is taken up with feed or water or nest boxes, that coop is big enough for 4 birds, and that's cramming it. As for your ventilation: Your two vents = 1 s.f. of ventilation. A recommendation was given to me some time ago to plan for 1 s.f. of ventilation in the coop YEAR ROUND per bird. The warmer the climate/weather the more ventilation would be needed.

Your OK weather is WAY TOO WARM to shut those birds in the coop for any length of time. Given your current set up, I can understand why they are refusing to sleep in there. Some major modifications will need to be made to provide housing that is predator proof, spacious enough, and has enough ventilation. I can understand your dilemma, as I think many of us have struggled to work out housing details when flock size increases.

 

[Frutfarm]

Hello all!


So I have a delimma. My chickens live in a fenced in run and the coop is inside the run. Their coop is elevated about a foot off the ground and has bedding material. The problem is every night the chickens prefer to roost on top of the coop instead of inside. The coop is basically a giant rectangle so the roof is flat. Any idea how I can get them to know that inside the box is their bed and they shouldn't go on top? Space isn't a problem, they have room to spare inside and there are even roost poles mounted inside. They just prefer a flat roof instead.


Also they act like there are two separate flocks. There is one older group as a younger group. They usually roost in separate areas with the older ones on the coop and the younger ones on some other stuff. The younger ones have started getting closer but they don't all roost together. We have to put all of them to bed every night individually. This has been going on for about a month

I wouldn't worry too much about the separate flocks. My birds always separate out in some form-by breeds, by age, etc. They're so clique-y!
On the coop-we are in Oklahoma(near the panhandle)as well, and left our coop closed for a weekend recently and they were totally fine. Just lots of water and you can always pop more ventilation, if you are concerned there's not enough. We have wire mesh all around the roof and right now, 2x4 fence sections for our summer bottom ventilation. It has a flat roof, but it's 6feet and some change high. The birds prefer to hang out in there during the heat of the day even with all the trees we have, so I think all the ventilation allowing a good breeze to blow through is the game changer for them. We have built other coops, but never had birds preferring to stay in them outside of laying during the daytime. You can modify that roofline to discourage them. We had a coop with a slanted roof before and the birds never wanted up there. I know how frustrating it is when they don't roost in the right place. We lost several birds after our move to Oklahoma because we just had a chicken tractor and they stopped wanting to go to roost in it and were sleeping in the trees. I hope something works for you! Keep us posted!

 

[MrsBall1127]

We increased ventilation today and made immediate measures to increase coop space per bird. Come Sunday, they should have an 8x10 and 6 foot tall home. We have prioritized this. We were mistaken in how much space they should have in their coop. We had read that they needed 2-3 square feet in their coop. We thought with their large run, they'd be okay with that space for the time being. Thank you, everyone, for your input.

 

[TominWa]

Is there a light inside of the coop if you put a light in the coop and then leave it on until they've ll roosted they'd all go in there that's why I did and after a while i didn't even need a light anymore.

Me too worked like a charm!

 

[Shiyanne]

Im no expert.. Im a newbi too.. But mine prefer to stay outside as well. However i do live in florida. They have a 6 ft high coop with perches inside, but only go in to the nesting boxes and in heavy rain. Space is no issue as well. Since they are very secure in the run, i let them be. When i attempted to force them inside they let me know thier aggitation by withholding eggs.. Lolol. Good luck to you and try thier advice, without backyardchicken id be lost...

 

[PoultryPedia]

Add breeze through a "chimney effect."
For a very good increase in ventilation in a coop, put in an opening or two down low in a coop--preferably on the coolest side(s) of the coop--and one or more up high. This creates a "chimney effect" as heat rises and goes out the top opening, cooler air is drawn in the low opening. This movement of air also provides a continual breeze! If you place low & high openings on opposing or adjacent walls, this creates more breeze movement than putting them on the same wall.
If the opening is close to the floor, chickens can sit in the breeze, or if you have a perch in the path of the breeze, they will enjoy that, too. Just be sure they do have a non-breezy place they can perch at night, too, if it gets cold.
You can put hardware wire over the low opening, or an old frig or oven metal shelf works great, too. Make a board cover that you can secure over it in the winter or during storms.
My most creative implementation of this strategy was when I used my pop door opening as one of the lower openings. You could choose one of two different doors to slide into it each night--a sturdy summer door that was like a picture frame with hardware cloth in the center instead of glass, or a solid wood storm/winter door.