Big storm spooked the chickens?

[Melbourne Chickens]

Hi all,

I've got 3 chickens in inner city Melbourne and we've had them for about 2-3 months now. It's still very exciting.

We had a big storm a few nights ago and the chickens didn't go into their coop at night. They stayed huddled near the house out of the rain. We have a pretty great coop for them (one of the pre-built wooden ones) and they usually go in by themselves at night. They also each lay an egg almost every day inside there. They've never laid an egg outside of their coop.

When the storm hit, we had to carry them into their coop. That night, 2 of them slept underneath the coop in the hay that's sheltered, but it's surrounded by wire on 2 sides and wood on the other two.

The leader chicken goes into the coop still and sleeps there, the other 2 haven't gone up there for the last 3 nights. It was raining heavily last night and we had to wake them up and get food to bribe them. It's pretty tough as under that section we can't reach them easily. When they were sleeping under the chair near the house, they were easier to move.

So it's another night now and there's no rain. No excuse for them to be acting strangely!

Is there anything I can do? Part of me thinks they are fine, they have their dry hay, a roof and two wooden walls. The rest is wire. But I know foxes could see them and it's much better to keep them inside their coop where they are safe behind a wooden door.

Any advice would be good, I'd love to know what's wrong and if there is a way to get them back to their familiar routine.

Thanks!

Jeremy

 

[CasaBlancaChickens]

Just herd them into the coop and lock them in for a few nights. Once they know the coop is safe again, they'll settle down. I'd also throw some BOSS or other treat into the coop when you put them away for the night. My girls usually stop laying if there's a loud storm for a day or two. They'll come around.