Food and water in coop? AND why are my chicks so upset at night

[Chloesmama]

Hi all-
I am new to chickens (well, had them as a kid, but new to caring for them...) I have 4 'red pullets' who all seem to be red sexlinks, they are about 6.5 weeks old now and are fully feathered. I have been keeping them in a plastic bin in my bathtub with heat lamps until a few days ago. I had been putting them in the chicken coop/ run we made for them in the day and keeping them inside at night. They have outgrown the bin, so I kept them in the coop for the past 2 nights. The run is attached and they have inside/ outside access all night. They have been very upset right around 5:30 every night, waiting for me to get them and go inside. I have had to put them in the coop part and block them in as I found them huddled under the ramp the first night after it was dark. They seemed very upset again last night when I locked them in and peeped until well past dark when they finally fell asleep. Why are they so upset? I was thinking that it may be because the netting goes down really far (for ventilation, it gets HOT here), and the perches are about the same level? Here are a few photos.

Also, I have been keeping the food inside the coop at night, but once don't have to lock them in, can I just leave the food and water out in the run? We live in the city and there are no predator threats at all.

Thanks for any ideas

 

[Chicks Galore3]

The only 2 reasons I can think of are -

1. A predator is harrasing them (Not sure how likely this is...)
2. They are cold.

What is the night time temps?

 

[Judy]

The OP said it's hot there, so it's much more likely the birds are hot rather than cold. Chickens are much more sensitive to heat than cold.

It's not unusual for chicks to be noisy when first put outdoors, just as they often cheep loudly the first night they sleep without the light from a heat lamp. They will get used to it and settle down.

As for no predators, that is very difficult to believe. Raccoons and large rats live in most cities, and generally feed at night. Fox, coyote, and several others live in cities in certain areas. Having chickens is one way to find out which predators are hiding in your area.

 

[bobbi-j]

Chickens don't handle change well. They'll adjust. You maybe haven't seen any predators, but now that you have chickens you will find out what kinds of critters you have where you live. Chickens attract them. Speaking of which, you may want to reinforce that chicken wire on your coop and run with some welded wire or hardware cloth. They really don't need the food or water in the coop at night - especially if it makes it too crowded. They don't eat or drink at night anyway.

 

[Chloesmama]

Thanks everyone. They are much more quiet tonight. I think they are getting used to being outside now. It is in the low 60s at night and up into the 90s in the day. getting HOT already.

As for predators, We have lived here for 3.5 years and I have never seen anything except cats and dogs in our neighborhood. We do have 2 neighbor cats, but we have dogs and the cats don't come into our yard. Is there anything else we can do besides putting new wire in? Will a motion light help? I don't think it is impossible that we could have opossums or raccoons or rats... yikes.