Chickens not roosting in coop

[fiefs20]

So I'm pretty new at this and my entire flock of 10 chickens are all still pretty young. They range in age between 6 weeks to 14 weeks. Once they were fully feathered I put them outside in the coop which has been going pretty well. I have roosts inside the coop that are the proper distance off the floor but they never use them. I also have one roost outside in the run. For the past few nights about 8 of my chickens have been putting themselves to bed in the coop but I have to physically move my two oldest chickens in the coop. They keep trying to sleep on the roost outside in the run. How do I get them to use the roosts inside the coop? They seem to hate them even though they're the same as the one in the run. Oh and how do I keep them out of the nesting boxes? That's their spot at night for some reason. I thought they would just naturally know by instinct that those are nesting boxes

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Block off the nests to prevent them from entering. Is it really hot where you live? I've noticed my girls sleep in their run when it's hot. If it is, consider hanging frozen water bottles (or jugs) from the ceiling with a fan blowing on them. This will air and cool out the coop. Otherwise, you may have to remove the roost from the run until they learn to go inside at night.

 

[estamets]

We live in an very warm area where the nights tend to stay warm, too. We're going to predator-proof our run, so is there any reason to worry about the girls sleeping outside the coop? Or can we just let them sleep where they're happy?

 

[Mountain Peeps]

We live in an very warm area where the nights tend to stay warm, too. We're going to predator-proof our run, so is there any reason to worry about the girls sleeping outside the coop? Or can we just let them sleep where they're happy?

As long as you're positive that it's predator proof. I would try my idea about the water (above^) first. It's no very good for them to sleep out there.

 

[fiefs20]

Well it's pretty cool at night but it might be a tad hot in the coop so I'll try your advice on the water bottles. We do have quite a few predator issues around here so I'm pretty adamant about them going in the coop. Just the other day I saw a raccoon not too far from my house which was odd since it was mid day. I'm not comfortable at all with these girls sleeping in the run.

Thank you for the advice! I really have no idea of what I'm doing.

 

[KatD]

I agree w mountain peeps. I think the birds are hot. We moved our campers into the coop nightly until they quit sleeping in the run. You may have a ventilation problem or a draft in the roost. You need one square inch of vent for every square foot of floor. Draft is not an issue when it's warm and dry. Some of my birds roosted earlier than others

 

[fiefs20]

I agree w mountain peeps. I think the birds are hot. We moved our campers into the coop nightly until they quit sleeping in the run. You may have a ventilation problem or a draft in the roost. You need one square inch of vent for every square foot of floor. Draft is not an issue when it's warm and dry. Some of my birds roosted earlier than others

I think you may be right. I'm thinking I don't have enough ventilation in my coop. I'm thinking of adding another window to get a cross ventilation going because it does feel rather hot in there even though it wasn't as hot outside the coop today. I tried the fan/ waterbottle trick today and all of my girls were in the coop at sundown which made me happy. Still no roosting going on but they all went in so I'm a happy camper.

 

[cath0617]

So I'm pretty new at this and my entire flock of 10 chickens are all still pretty young. They range in age between 6 weeks to 14 weeks. Once they were fully feathered I put them outside in the coop which has been going pretty well. I have roosts inside the coop that are the proper distance off the floor but they never use them. I also have one roost outside in the run. For the past few nights about 8 of my chickens have been putting themselves to bed in the coop but I have to physically move my two oldest chickens in the coop. They keep trying to sleep on the roost outside in the run. How do I get them to use the roosts inside the coop? They seem to hate them even though they're the same as the one in the run. Oh and how do I keep them out of the nesting boxes? That's their spot at night for some reason. I thought they would just naturally know by instinct that those are nesting boxes

You say they are the proper distance off the floor in the coop.....what is the proper distance off the floor? Just curious, Im new to this too

 

[cath0617]

I agree w mountain peeps. I think the birds are hot. We moved our campers into the coop nightly until they quit sleeping in the run. You may have a ventilation problem or a draft in the roost. You need one square inch of vent for every square foot of floor. Draft is not an issue when it's warm and dry. Some of my birds roosted earlier than others

I have 8 chickens that are almost 7 weeks. I moved them outside as soon as they had their feathers. But they do not go inside the coop at night. It has been 4 days that we move them inside too. How long did you have to do this nightly? They all huddle on a roost out in the run.

 

[nuttyboo]

I thought I was having the same issue, my girls huddle together in a corner every night I kept moving the big girls 7 weeks to the roost, turns out they just haven't matured I read in another post they roost at approx 14-16 weeks. No I just let them do what's comfortable they'll move to their roosting area when their ready. I would deftly block of the nesting boxes as the poop at night you dong want them pooping on their laid eggs when they start. I'd remove the roosting bars in the run. IMO