Does anyone let their chickens sleep outside?

[gimmie birdies]

Are you going to N40 for chicks this year? I hear they are coming in Mar 8.

 

[alebuela]

In a secure run? I am also talking about "letting" them if they choose, rather than "forcing" them into a "hen house" during the hot months. I have been considering using an existing "building" as a "coop". Works great in the cooler weather. (Currently use it for my turkeys.) But it does get hot in there in have a black orpington who alway summer. Increasing cross ventilation really isn't an option due to the way it is constructed. With the current cost of lumber, I am really trying not to have to spend $9457864 on a new structure. Especially since I have never HAD chickens before and therefor not 100% sure it will be something I will want to do "forever".

I have an 8 yr. old black orpington who always went to sleep in the coop with her sisters, until the 4 sisters were killed one night when a raccoon got in. "Petra" alone lived unharmed, but she was not quite as comfortable there. So I got her a companion, "Athena," a very young Ameraucana pullet, who from the time she could fly, never willingly slept in the coop, but flew high, where I couldn't reach her. She somehow convinced Petra to live the high life with her. Now through the wind and the cold and the snow of this frigid Denver winter, they have hopped and flown their way to a sturdy branch in the peach tree to spend the night, every night, sometimes in temps well below 0. I keep expecting to find chickensicles each morning, but no. They'll spend the day sleeping in the coop, which gets warmed by the sun. But they're in the tree by late afternoon.

Before all this happened, I used to worry and wonder if they were warm enough in their coop when the temperatures would drop below freezing. Now, my fears are clearly baseless.

Do I let them do this? I can't catch them, although I have enticed them into the coop with meal worms occasionally, and then locked them in for a full week, expecting that the new habit of being there would change their behavior. But they don't like the coop (and they have two to choose from), and invariably they wind up back on their high roost. So I quit arguing with them. And now they entertain and mystify all the neighbors and passers by, and what happens when another raccoon visits, I don't know.

 

[Rahnee]

My "coop" right now is only a run. Its enclosed on 2.5 sides with tarps to mostly keep the wind and rain out. I've got all sorts of stuff in there for them to roost on and noone has an issue. They've even been sleeping on the ground in chicken puddles.

 

[Janell2Me]

In a secure run? I am also talking about "letting" them if they choose, rather than "forcing" them into a "hen house" during the hot months. I have been considering using an existing "building" as a "coop". Works great in the cooler weather. (Currently use it for my turkeys.) But it does get hot in there in the summer. Increasing cross ventilation really isn't an option due to the way it is constructed. With the current cost of lumber, I am really trying not to have to spend $9457864 on a new structure. Especially since I have never HAD chickens before and therefor not 100% sure it will be something I will want to do "forever".

I have a perch set up outdoors and the chickens use it at night in the summer. The run is made of 2x4's and entirely enclosed in 1/2" hardware cloth. I also dug a trench a foot deep and buried hardware cloth around the perimeter. I cover that portion of the run with a tarp so they can even sleep out in the rain if they choose to do so. Plus, the tarp gives them a shady spot during hot weather.

 

[Vicker]

Mine have always gone inside on their own. I live in a hot climate so have open air coops. I use shade cloth in the summer and cover the openings with clear hard panels in the winter.

 

[Silexian]

In a secure run? I am also talking about "letting" them if they choose, rather than "forcing" them into a "hen house" during the hot months. I have been considering using an existing "building" as a "coop". Works great in the cooler weather. (Currently use it for my turkeys.) But it does get hot in there in the summer. Increasing cross ventilation really isn't an option due to the way it is constructed. With the current cost of lumber, I am really trying not to have to spend $9457864 on a new structure. Especially since I have never HAD chickens before and therefor not 100% sure it will be something I will want to do "forever".

Most of my chickens roost in the run, instead of the coop. Especially in the warmer months. My runs are covered and constructed with 2 inch by 4 inch lumber. I used 1inch by 1/2 inch welded wire to keep the predators out. With that spacing raccoons cannot reach through it very far. Plus raccoons and dogs have a hard time getting a good bite on it.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

@Pencilled Palm I'm down here in hot, humid, variable wind Florida.

My run is predator (non avian) deterrent, not covered at all. Either of them. Unless we have a tornado watch or a hurricane warning, I leave the door open to the house, many of my birds choose to sleep outside when the weather is nice (as they decide such things, certainly not me.) In fact, I have a number of birds that prefer to sleep on the roof - it being the highest point and all...

So yes, some of us absolutely do.

and shade cloth does help buffer wind flow. Makes the air more turbulent, less drafty.

 

[Misty74829]

In a secure run? I am also talking about "letting" them if they choose, rather than "forcing" them into a "hen house" during the hot months. I have been considering using an existing "building" as a "coop". Works great in the cooler weather. (Currently use it for my turkeys.) But it does get hot in there in the summer. Increasing cross ventilation really isn't an option due to the way it is constructed. With the current cost of lumber, I am really trying not to have to spend $9457864 on a new structure. Especially since I have never HAD chickens before and therefor not 100% sure it will be something I will want to do "forever".

2 of my hens insisted on sleeping on top of their hen house till the overnight temperature was in the teens.

 

[Carson213]

i would have them roost in trees. i have found that my chickens will roost as high as i build roosts. i started at 4 feet and now have roosts higher than 8 feet and they crowd as high as possible. next time i work on their roosts, i’ll make them about a foot lower than the ceiling...which is like 12 feet

 

[JoCoKS]

In a secure run? I am also talking about "letting" them if they choose, rather than "forcing" them into a "hen house" during the hot months. I have been considering using an existing "building" as a "coop". Works great in the cooler weather. (Currently use it for my turkeys.) But it does get hot in there in the summer. Increasing cross ventilation really isn't an option due to the way it is constructed. With the current cost of lumber, I am really trying not to have to spend $9457864 on a new structure. Especially since I have never HAD chickens before and therefor not 100% sure it will be something I will want to do "forever".

I have a small exhaust fan in my chicken coop I run constantly when it gets hot outside. My coop is insulated in the floor, walls and ceiling and it is shaded on the north side by our home to move in fresh air and I have no problems.