Chickens not sleeping in the coop

[jonalisa]

Chickens need 4 square feet of room in the coop, and one linear foot of roost space per bird, even though they may all cram into one space.

Your birds are roosting on top of the coop because it is too small and the roosts are too low. They feel safe up high. Is there any way to enclose the "run" part of the coop in order to expand the coop, and add suitable ventilation, which is seriously lacking in prefabs?

And that is 4 sqft per chicken.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

While we are advising you about expanding/improving your chicken facilities... may I suggest you reinforce your chicken wire with hardware cloth (hwc) with 1/2 to 1/4" openings? At least from the ground up to a height of about 2 feet at least. Chicken wire is designed only to keep chickens in, not to keep predators out. A raccoon will reach in and grab a chicken by the head if it can, with predictable results. Chicken wire will not deter snakes, rats or mice, either. And most of us have found it adbvisable to place an underground "apron" of hwc around the chicken run as well, to a distance of a foot or two out, to deter digging predators. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[MTR]

While we are advising you about expanding/improving your chicken facilities... may I suggest you reinforce your chicken wire with hardware cloth (hwc) with 1/2 to 1/4" openings? At least from the ground up to a height of about 2 feet at least. Chicken wire is designed only to keep chickens in, not to keep predators out. A raccoon will reach in and grab a chicken by the head if it can, with predictable results. Chicken wire will not deter snakes, rats or mice, either. And most of us have found it adbvisable to place an underground "apron" of hwc around the chicken run as well, to a distance of a foot or two out, to deter digging predators. Good luck and enjoy!

Have you found the apron needed? I didn’t install one and I live in the deep woods and never had an issue. Of course they are couped up at night.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Have you found the apron needed? I didn’t install one and I live in the deep woods and never had an issue. Of course they are couped up at night.

I've had a rat tunnel 10" under my apron trying to get in, but it was deterred by the distance and didn't go further.

 

[argosnikki]

Wild chickens roost in trees. I have a hen who is aggressive toward other birds so she has her own coop and run adjacent to another group. She roosts on top of the coop and lays inside it. I keep that area covered and surrounded with tarps on the outside of the run to make sure that she's protected from the weather and leave her to it. No evidence of burrowing from rodents. I don't really think anything about it now. She lays consistently and seems just fine.

 

[jonalisa]

I've had a rat tunnel 10" under my apron trying to get in, but it was deterred by the distance and didn't go further.

I didn't have rats tunneling until recently and my coop/run is 10 years old. It's easier to do it now than to have to do it later. You will have peace of mind knowing they are safe.