Can chickens live alone at night?

[sarah4hchickens]

I have 2 cochin chickens (5 weeks) and I was wondering if it’s ok if they can live in separate pens for the night in the barn and in one large pen in the day (outside)? Their night pens are a good size for 1 chicken but 2 might be pushing it a bit. (12” by 30”)

 

[TheTexasChickenGirl]

Do you have a coop for them? Are the pens covered? Post pics of your set-up

 

[Elie And Her Flock]

The reason that chickens sleep together is to a) keep safe from predators (safety in numbers) and b) keep themselves warm. if the pens are covered, predators shouldn't be a problem. if the barn is 60+ degrees, warmth shouldn't be too much of an issue either. the main issue then would be that chickens get up and start their day early in the morning. keeping them in pens during the day for long after they'd woken up would put them under stress.

 

[Elie And Her Flock]

chickens also prefer to sleep on roosts. consider putting a long slab of wood across the sleeping pen. if you need more detailed advice i would recommend posting pics of your setup. best wishes!

 

[sarah4hchickens]

chickens also prefer to sleep on roosts. consider putting a long slab of wood across the sleeping pen. if you need more detailed advice i would recommend posting pics of your setup. best wishes!

 

[sarah4hchickens]

chickens also prefer to sleep on roosts. consider putting a long slab of wood across the sleeping pen. if you need more detailed advice i would recommend posting pics of your setup. best wishes!

Also I was wondering maybe I could put a bigger pullet (14 weeks) who’s really friendly in with each of them to keep them happy.

 

[Elie And Her Flock]

Love the setup! If you put a wooden bar across one of them, it would be enough room for 2 chickens. However if you want to cage them seperately, you might want to consider placing the cages next to each other so they can see one another.
Do you have another cage to house the pullet in? For introducing the 2 younger chickens to the older one, I would do a playpen method where they're seperated by a chicken wire for about a week until they get used to each other, and then integrate the pullet in with the 2 chickens and see how it goes, but keep a close eye.

 

[sarah4hchickens]

Love the setup! If you put a wooden bar across one of them, it would be enough room for 2 chickens. However if you want to cage them seperately, you might want to consider placing the cages next to each other so they can see one another.
Do you have another cage to house the pullet in? For introducing the 2 younger chickens to the older one, I would do a playpen method where they're seperated by a chicken wire for about a week until they get used to each other, and then integrate the pullet in with the 2 chickens and see how it goes, but keep a close eye.

Sadly I can’t separate the cages, they are welded together, but I could put wood across both of them and get 2 more chickens that are the same age! I do have a coop and run for my pullets so they are fine I was just wondering about the younger girls.

 

[Caroline0615]

Sadly I can’t separate the cages, they are welded together, but I could put wood across both of them and get 2 more chickens that are the same age! I do have a coop and run for my pullets so they are fine I was just wondering about the younger girls.

Personally I had my 4 chickens which were a couple month old babies and they were in a pen at night just about that size. They did fine together and I would always let them out first thing in the morning! They would always go back to the pen because they knew that was their home