Available roost space leaves two pullets out in the cold

[Little Meadow Big Sky]

Hi!

I we have 13 pullets, aged 7 months. There are two roosts, each 8' wide, the width of the coop. It turns out they all fit onto the rear roost, except for one or two who end up all alone on the front roost.

Those two are, of course, girls on the bottom of the pecking order. They also happen to be two of our favs :-(. My concern is that, with winter coming on, just the one or two girls alone on the front roost will be uncomfortable with the cold, without the added body heat of others around them.

We're hatching a plan to shorten the roosts to force them to split up, but I thought I'd seek some experienced advice before embarking on the project.

FYI, we have a version of a Wood's Fresh Air Coop, great ventilation, but no drafts.

Am I overthinking this, will the one or two loners be OK? I'm in Central VA so it's not crazy cold.

Thanks!

 

[DobieLover]

Hi!

I we have 13 pullets, aged 7 months. There are two roosts, each 8' wide, the width of the coop. It turns out they all fit onto the rear roost, except for one or two who end up all alone on the front roost.

Those two are, of course, girls on the bottom of the pecking order. They also happen to be two of our favs :-(. My concern is that, with winter coming on, just the one or two girls alone on the front roost will be uncomfortable with the cold, without the added body heat of others around them.

We're hatching a plan to shorten the roosts to force them to split up, but I thought I'd seek some experienced advice before embarking on the project.

FYI, we have a version of a Wood's Fresh Air Coop, great ventilation, but no drafts.

Am I overthinking this, will the one or two loners be OK? I'm in Central VA so it's not crazy cold.

Thanks!

Hi.
Actually, each chicken puffs up her feathers to trap her body heat and has her own little micro-climate! Your two girls on their own roost will be just fine.

 

[Little Meadow Big Sky]

Oh, my gosh, thank you so much! That's a huge relief. Not only do I not need to worry about my littles, Wren and Ruthie, tomorrow we get to return the lumber to Lowe's ;-).

Micro-climate for the win!

Again, thanks.

 

[sourland]

Dry, well fed and watered, and draft free, and they would be fine in Alaska let alone Va. Micro-climate for the win!

 

[mixedbreeds]

Get more chickens.

 

[CanadaEh]

don't worry about it, they will be fine - fully feathered chicken does not need any other chickens to survive a night (assuming your coop is dry and draft free). We supplement light in the evening and has to turn it off abruptly (no dimmer). This most likely causes some chickens to spend the night on the floor rather on the roost, but they are fine in the morning.

 

[Little Meadow Big Sky]

Get more chickens.

Right?! ;-)

 

[DobieLover]

don't worry about it, they will be fine - fully feathered chicken does not need any other chickens to survive a night (assuming your coop is dry and draft free). We supplement light in the evening and has to turn it off abruptly (no dimmer). This most likely causes some chickens to spend the night on the floor rather on the roost, but they are fine in the morning.

Could you supplement their light in the morning instead to prevent them getting stranded off the roost?

 

[Little Meadow Big Sky]

Could you supplement their light in the morning instead to prevent them getting stranded off the roost?

They're not off the roost, they're all alone on the front roost, ergo my concern that they would be too cold all by themselves. It's lovely to have that concern belayed due to inbuilt chicken micro-climate. As in, they're not fat, just fluffy!

 

[CanadaEh]

Could you supplement their light in the morning instead to prevent them getting stranded off the roost?

i don't want roos to crow too early in the morning way long before dusk