Chickens Won't Coop Up At Night

[Jilly1425]

Thank you, everyone, for your responses. I have two smaller “coops” inside a 10x10 dog kennel with a roof that is under some shady trees. We are located near Baltimore, MD and so the summer can get quite hot while the winter can get quite cold. I will add this into my profile!

The two adults are in a pre-fab and I don’t ever close the door in on them during the summer (because heat) - there is a small run attached to the box part and I have tiles under and around for predators. They occasionally do go over to the coop - but even in winter would rather roost on top of it than to go in. I don’t think they have ever actually gone inside on their own - even into the run part. I am going to attempt a lock-in and feed treats at dusk - though I know they’ll be angry about it.

The BCM juvies are also in the dog kennel, but they have a larger little tikes playhouse that is in queue for a more sophisticated mod. I realize I should probably start the training now with them to go in at night. They prefer to snuggle together in a flower pot rather than coop up - that coop isn’t good for a lock-in yet though.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Any photos of this set up with the 2 prefabs? Going to guess the prefabs are too dark and/or too poorly ventilated, which makes them highly unattractive in hot temperatures. And once they got used to not using them, they decided they'd rather sleep outside regardless of the weather.