Chickens not roosting in the coop

[BoyTheRooster]

That's a lot of birds to go in that 4x8....not surprised they are roosting elsewhere.

Yeah that's tight. You need a much bigger coop for that many birds.

Really? When we brought the coop he said it could fit about 20 birds, as long as they weren't confined to the coop, which they aren't. How much space should they have per chicken?
Once the chicks are adults the cockerels will be heading to the freezer, so I'm guessing that'll be about half the total chicks
One lot of 6 chicks were hatched in the forge, so they'll likely roost in there. I'll had a lower roost for them tomorrow

Here's the tree they roost in (can you tell it's never been pruned)

Full view of the tree, they roost right at the top, more on the left

Closer view of roosting spot, were the visible branches are

And from the other side you can get into the tree, lots of roost space

 

[aart]

Really? When we brought the coop he said it could fit about 20 birds, as long as they weren't confined to the coop, which they aren't. How much space should they have per chicken?

Well, it depends......for roosting, about 12" of roost length per bird, with roosts being 12" away from walls and other roosts is a pretty good 'rule of thumb'. You could fit 20' of roost length in a 4x8' coop (three 8' roosts spaced 12" apart) but it would be tight for them to jump up and down from them. Also take into account ventilation, that's a lot of night poops and breathing for that space, if it's not very well ventilated, they're not going to want to be in there.

Those tree branches look much more attractive to them.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would also add some windows, chickens don't like dark places unless they are looking to lay. Chickens have poor eyesight in low light so by roost time it may be too dark in there as well.