Chickens not going in

[Margiebr]

I have 6 chickens and two houses that are in a large pen. They were going in one at night now they aren’t going in at all. I I have been putting three in each after dark. I’m not sure why they won’t go into them their self when they were before.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

When I had this problem it was because the coop was too small and not well ventilated. Once the weather warmed up they decided they didn’t want to sleep in that hot box anymore. It can also be that there is something in there with them like mites.

 

[Margiebr]

When I had this problem it was because the coop was too small and not well ventilated. Once the weather warmed up they decided they didn’t want to sleep in that hot box anymore. It can also be that there is something in there with them like mites.

How do you get rid of mites

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

How do you get rid of mites

That might not be the problem. You have to look in the coop at night with a flashlight to see if you can see them.

How big is your coop? Do you have a picture of it?

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Here is an article on mites that might be useful:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-northern-fowl-mite.79740/

Like I said it’s possible something else is wrong

 

[rosemarythyme]

Just from looking at the set up I would think lack of ventilation and overall coop space are the most likely reasons.

For mites you'd need to check the birds' skin and base of feathers, as well as the coop at night, as there's 2 main mites that chickens get and they each behave differently.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I have to agree with @rosemarythyme because your coops are almost identical to the one I was using when I had this problem. I had six chickens in one of those. Obviously you are trying to put fewer chickens in double the space but not even one chicken would sleep in mine. I was building them a new coop so I had them in a big run just like you have and every single night they would perch on top of the coop. Finally a raccoon got in and nearly took one of their heads off so I forced them to sleep in there temporarily. Poor chickens…Anyway the problem is that most of the time chickens will try to sleep all together unless they are separate flocks. So they are choosing to sleep outside together instead of in one or two coops. I have used a similar coop by removing the nesting box and replacing it with hardward cloth so there was plenty of ventilation. You might consider doing this to one of the coops since they will probably lay in the other coop or you can put the old nesting box on the ground. Just some ideas.