Sitting on the edge

[kathef64]

My two chickens do not like to sit inside their coop but insist on sitting on the door opening edge.
This would be okay except for the fact that they move all the bedding away and poop all night long leaving a mess.
I need advice on what to do. I have shut the door on them but it will soon be really hot and want them to have fresh air.
Thanks

 

[Debbie292d]

Do they have roosts inside the coop?

I'd maybe set a bucket there so they can't sit there, but then they'd probably sit on the bucket.

Is there enough ventilation? Maybe it's stuffy to them inside so they want to be by the door.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Photos of the doorway they're in and the rest of the coop? I agree it sounds like you have ventilation issues, so that might be keeping them from wanting to go completely inside.

 

[kathef64]

I will send a picture but the coop has a side window and it's only two chickens - I don't think it's an air issue. They like perching there and I need help trying to get a perch somewhere else.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How old are they? Chicks often do not want to roost at night until they are older.

Chickens usually like to roost as high as they can get. I don't see any roosts or nests in there, nothing they could sleep on up high. What else do you have in there?

Do you have chickens that cannot fly, like Silkies or Frizzles? If they cannot fly they may not be able to get to anything higher.

Where are you located? I'm interested in what kind of temperatures you will see this summer since you are worried about heat. Daytime and nighttime temperatures.

Is that window the only ventilation you have? An opening higher up and with predator protection like that window could cool it quite a bit.

I don't know what the cause is but some more information may allow us to help you better.

 

[kathef64]

I live deep in Texas where I had water sprinkling over them durig the day last year. They are great chickens and I recommend this breed - Spotted Sussex. They cannot roost up high are contented.
I repeat my question which is that they move the straw bedding and poop all night leaving a mess I have to clean daily. The other chichkens I had were content to sit in the nesting boxes.
Because of the way the coop is made - I cannot put bars up.

 

[Ridgerunner]

So your question is how to train them to sleep somewhere else. Every night when they settle down to sleep move them to where you want them to sleep and shut the door so they cannot sleep on that edge. Be consistent every night and they will get the message. Sometimes mine catch on after one or two nights, some take three weeks of being consistent.

My Speckled Sussex have no problems flying up to my 5 feet high roosts. I'm not sure why a Spotted Sussex would be different. Some people use ramps or slanted ladders to help their chickens climb up.

I don't know how thick your walls are but they are wood. I'll assume they are 1/2" thick so I can use dimensions in this but you will need to adjust based on your actual thickness. The way I'd attach bars to that would be to take a short section of 2x4 maybe 8" long. Drill pilot holes through the 2x4 and put it on the wall on the inside of your coop. From the inside of your coop use 3 inch screws to hold it in place. Then go outside the coop to find where those screws came through and use them as a guide to put some 2 inch screws from the outside to firmly hold the 2x4 in place. Then go inside and remove the two 3 inch screws so they are not poking outside where they can injure you. Put two of those up and you have something solid you can attach your bars to.

 

[kathef64]

I’m not sure where you got the idea that my chickens can’t fly or roost? I have tried to train them and I have shut the door. I guess there really is no answer except shutting the door but then in the summer they’re going be hot.
Trust me, I cannot put a roost in there. It is not high enough. I have tried before. Thanks for everybody’s answers.

 

[aart]

I guess there really is no answer except shutting the door but then in the summer they’re going be hot.

Might be time to add more ventilation, or build a more open air coop.

Trust me, I cannot put a roost in there. It is not high enough. I have tried before.

A roost does not need to be that high, even just 6" off the floor might entice them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I guess there really is no answer except shutting the door but then in the summer they’re going be hot.
Trust me, I cannot put a roost in there. It is not high enough. I have tried before. Thanks for everybody’s answers.

You need more ventilation in there, even if just 2 birds in a hot climate you're looking at needing 2-3 sq ft of ventilation per bird during summer. Removing one wall of the coop or replacing it with all wire mesh isn't unheard of in hot climates.

As far as a roost, I agree with aart that even a low roost might be enough to encourage them to move out of the doorway. It doesn't even need to be attached to the coop itself, a free standing one that can removed for cleaning might work as long as it's stable enough. Like I made this from scrap for chicks/hens in isolation (it wedges into my brooder) but it's big enough for 2 hens to fit on: