Are my chickens going to STUPID themselves to death?

[chickensducks&agoose]

We have a nice coop, with an enclosed run... for some reason, 6 or 7 of my 16 hens INSIST on sleeping outside on a roost in the run. I live in vermont, 28 degrees last night, colder tonight... will they eventually drop dead when it gets cold enough? Should I break the roost down? is there some reason they could be doing this?

 

[enola]

Take the roost down, chickens are creatures of habit. Take away the roost and they will change their habit

 

[TipsyDog]

Check over your coop carefully. Is there something in there that they are afraid of? Snakes, rats? Also, put a light in the coop for an hour after dark so they all go in. I would try taking them off the roost and placing them into the coop at dusk for a few nights and see if they get the hang of it. How old are they? Have they EVER roosted in the coop?

You should try to get them into that coop before winter comes around!

 

[chickon]

Ha, "stupid themselves to death"... I think the answer to that is a resounding yes.

Yeah, just manually move them from the roosts to the coop at night. Once they get in the habit of sleeping in the coop, they will just start to go in there to sleep. It will take several repetitions to break the habit but it will happen.

I don't think you have to take down the roosts they all enjoy during the day!--just get them in the habit of sleeping somewhere else.

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

I kept figuring that they must know how cold is TOO cold. stupid birds. Yeesh. Anyway, I'll take the roost down tomorrow, and since they only roost in the evening, they'll be all freaked out trying to figure out what to do. Another job for tomorrow. anyway, how cold IS TOO cold?

 

[TipsyDog]

chickensducks&agoose :

I kept figuring that they must know how cold is TOO cold. stupid birds. Yeesh. Anyway, I'll take the roost down tomorrow, and since they only roost in the evening, they'll be all freaked out trying to figure out what to do. Another job for tomorrow. anyway, how cold IS TOO cold?

You don't have to take down their outside roost, just go out at dusk and pick them up and put them in on the roost in the coop. After a couple of evenings, they should go in on their own.​

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

the nice thing about them sleeping outside has been how CLEAN the coop is staying... really only cleaned it once this summer! And it STILL looks gorgeous. I'm going out there now to do the lift and stuff... lift 'em off the roost, and stuff 'em in the coop. yeesh.

 

[greathorse]

At 28 degrees they are sure not uncomfortable unless it is wet or very windy. I think you could remove the roost and herd them in the coop when they begin the gathering process. It will not take them long to go inside without prompting.. I am guessing they would go in anyway if it got really rough outside but you never know.

You could also feed them inside for a bit after the roost comes down and I think they would go in. They will find a roost eventually. It just might take them a bit.

They will stupid themselves that is for sure.

I have never carried birds inside but I have sort of herded new ones in that seem to gather outside the coop. I assume you have roosts inside. It might take them a while to roost on those as welll. I still have some 8 month old birds that sleep on the floor. They will get it sooner or later. I have never seen a bird that would not roost sooner or later

 

[stephys_fluffybutts]

I am haveing the same problem. I had a doggy door installed when the coop was built. I never had to close it at all. But the newer birds are just stupid. So I have been haveing to shut them in at night. the run area is only 3 or 4 feet tall so I am haveing to bend over. I don't know how long I am going to have to do this...it is starting to make me mad.

I have a medical problem when I twist any of my joints just a certain way my bones pop out of their sockets. And it is quite painful

I have silkies. So the little things cant handle to cold of weather.
I think any weather under 30 degrees birds should have a secure/covered area to sleep.

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

I got 6 of them in, but there were another 4 or 5 up in the rafters of the overhang, that I couldn't reach... gonna get the DH to staple plastic over the whole rafter area so they can't get up there anymore. I should've known that they were bird brains....