Chickens not going into coop - just let them be?

[Bostonburbs]

I have a smaller coop for two chickens and a larger coop (right next to it) for my other chickens. The two chickens were separated from the rest last summer due to escalating bullying. The bully and her friend do well together, but definitely march to a different beat.

As the weather has warmed, I am finding that the two chickens are consistently still out on the roost in their run when I go out to check and close up for the night. I shoo them in and they stay in for the night. I see no evidence of mites when I have checked, and have been using mite-deterring solutions straight along. Anything else I should suspect? No predator scares, besides the odd mouse scurrying through the area

My husband thinks we should just let them be and not worry about forcing them in at night. I feel confident in the safety of our setup, but don’t love the idea of advertising a sleeping flock with chickens out in view all night. Any thoughts?

PS - I just came across another post with a similar question, and see the suggestion of adding a light to the coop. It does not have great natural light, so maybe that is a thought. I’m just struggling, as it seems they are hunkered down for the night on the roost in the run when it is still dusk and the girls in my other coop have tucked themselves in.

 

[Chuckie chicken]

Some of my girls were roosting in the run as well. I ended up taking the roosts out of the run so they would go in the coop. My set up is secure enough to leave the them out, but I didn't want to deal with retraining in the fall, and I have poop boards in the coop so clean up is a lot easier if they roost in there.

I tried adding light to my coop, but I think it made it worse. I had a light on a timer for about 30 minutes starting at dusk. The girls seemed caught by surprise when the timer shut the light off, some didn't get to the roost at all, others ended up huddled together on the poop board of a small roost. I cancelled the timer for the light and took the roosts out of the run and everything returned to normal. For now.

PS Mine free range all day so taking the roosts out of the run now doesn't affect them at all. Your needs may well be different.

 

[rosemarythyme]

What's the ventilation like in their coop? Other than pests, other considerations are: lack of ventilation, lack of light to navigate by, too little space.

 

[Carson213]

i have my run door set 1 hour after dark and have never checked on them to see if they went inside and haven't had a problem. if you have trees in your run, they might use them instead of your roosts. my opinion is...let chickens be chickens. if they come in or don't come in...it will sort itself out...and you can always find more chickens.

 

[Carson213]

i have my run door set 1 hour after dark and have never checked on them to see if they went inside and haven't had a problem. if you have trees in your run, they might use them instead of your roosts. my opinion is...let chickens be chickens. if they come in or don't come in...it will sort itself out...and you can always find more chickens.

we have 3 cats...good luck trying to round them up at night...

 

[3KillerBs]

I second the question about ventilation, especially because this started when the weather warmed.

If it's warmer inside the coop than outside you need more ventilation.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I also question ventilation.

The other thing may be the height of the roost in the run. If it's higher than the roost in the coop they will choose the one in the run.

 

[Chickenman2006]

i raise chickens and turkeys and every year I always have a few who like to sleep outside in the warmer temperatures. And my coop has great ventilation with two windows open during the summer. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. They prolly just wanna enjoy the nice warm weather

 

[aart]

I see no evidence of mites when I have checked, and have been using mite-deterring solutions straight along.

And what might(mite-haha!) these be?

In case you didn't know:
Check them over real well for mites and/or lice.

Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008