Chickens prefer to lay on the ground at night ........ Normal?

[tmb3fan]

Hi all,

I am new to chickens and I have 2 breeds (Auracanas and Buff Orpingtons). The A's are 9 -10 weeks and Buffs are 13- 14 weeks. They have separate chicken tractors and coops. Inside both coops I put natural branches at various heights. The Buffs go in at night but roost in the doorway on top of each other. The A's lay on the ground huddled in the corner of the tractor against the 2x6 boards. I have 1" chicken wire over the whole thing and it extends a foot out onto the outside grass to keep predators from digging.

Is this normal behavior? They go in the coop sometimes during the day and sit on the floor but not at night.

I tried to herd them in the coop after dark, but they just ran around on the ground and then went back to the corner on the ground.

Thanks for any advice,
Teri

 

[seminolewind]

I don't think there's anything wrong with it. They probably don't know any better, or the coop is hot, or maybe they need a teacher-chicken. LOL

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I've had groups of teenage chicks who would do the same thing. The only concern is if they're sleeping near the edge of their pen, against the fence wire. A raccoon could reach through the wire and kill them, and pull them out bite by bite. That has happened here, and then I made them a raised platform roost, a section of wooden slatted fence from a child's playset. I set it up on cinder blocks, and the slats were about 4" apart. They could pile up together on it but it was set in the middle of the tractor so a 'coon couldn't reach them from the sides.