Chickens don't leave the coop

[tomstephens]

My chickens all around 16-18 weeks don't leave the coop all the sudden. I let them out in the morning, they come out, seem to be fine. By the time I come home from work they've all wandered back inside and a few *might* come out later as the sunsets.

Are they just hot and trying to avoid the sun? Can I do anything to help them? SHould I get them a window air con?

Also -- is there a breed that will eat ants? We have tons and tons of ants and my chickens don't seem to pay attention to them. They'll eat termites all day but the ants they don't touch. Would some bantams be more likely to eat ants? We have some black and red ants, some are fire ants.

 

[DouglasPeeps]

My chickens are about the same age as yours. My first questions would be, "Do your chickens have plenty of shade available to them?". This is very important to chickens. If they don't they will go back and stay inside even though it can be extremely HOT inside the coop. I had to add some "artificial shade" for my chickens, because they didn't have any until after 4pm in the day. That being said, they still might want to be inside, but at least they have the option.

Hope this helps!!

BYW, not sure about the ant thing.......

 

[tomstephens]

They have HUGE trees to hide under all day, but I'm thinking it doesn't provide quite the shade that the spot they like to sit in. The way it's built it actually stays fairly cool there.

That's probably the reason they stay there?