broody hen sleeping on ground outside coop

[biteme2134]

So my first broody, Buff, is sleeping outside the coop on the ground with the chicks. The run is fenced in, but I'm worried the ground will be too cold/wet/something bad for them to be sleeping out there. On the other side moving them into the coop EVERY night for the next few weeks doesnt sound fun.

Any thoughts?

 

[nchls school]

Try putting a covered nest box outside the coop on the ground for the family to sleep in. There might be something keeping the hen and chicks from going inside; a bully?

 

[song of joy]

My hen tried to bed down outside the coop the evening of the first day she took the chicks out. She did this because some of the chicks couldn't figure out how to get back up the ramp. She went up and down the ramp numerous times to try to show them, but a few couldn't figure it out. So, she just bedded down outside the coop. I collected the chicks and put them in the coop, and she quickly followed them in. It was a challenge trying to catch the chicks with the hen pecking at me!

The next day, I put a wider board over the top of the ramp to give the chicks more room to navigate. Over the next 2 days, all of the chicks were able to follow mom up and down the ramp, so she and chicks have spent the night in the coop ever since.