Free Range vs Run in (UK) Winter

[poultry person]

Do you have somewhere to roost that's inside the run but not inside the coop? We have a (secure) covered run and one of those little box coops, and, long story short, the preferred roosting spot is a piece of wood screwed to the propped-up nestbox lid.

Last year was the first winter they did that and it was a really mild one here, but it did go below freezing for several nights at a time.

No we just have them roost inside the coop!

 

[centrarchid]

I do not become concerned until temperature drops below -10 degrees C.

 

[azygous]

Same here. Anything above -10C I and my chickens consider "warm".

 

[Sutremaine]

No we just have them roost inside the coop!

Our two used to do that. Then we got two more young ones, and the adults wouldn't have them in the coop. The nest box portion of the coop has always been propped open for ventilation, and the little ones liked being up there. Since it was summer at the time, we added some wood to make a flatter roosting surface while full integration happened. Then one of the older chickens died, and the remaining one still wouldn't have the youngsters in. She was perfectly fine with going up to their roost and kicking somebody off though, and that chicken (or those two chickens) would then sleep in the coop. Eventually everyone got on together and slept on the same piece of wood... 'outside'.

They know where the inside of the coop is and what it's like to sleep in there, and if they want to be outside the coop then it's up to them. They still have a roof over their head and hardware cloth all around them.

Anyway, the initial message was, "if they want to be in a tree so bad, give them one".

 

[Folly's place]

My concern would be freezing rain and wind; that's definitely a day to keep them inside, so there's no roosting in the tree. They might be smart enough to figure that out, as long as another bird isn't keeping them out. Mary

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC @Lorielus!
I'd try to figure out why those birds are not cooping up at night.

(Fairly standard wood construction, tightly built

Could be stuffy in there due to a 'tight' coop?
Good ventilation is essential year round.

Also wondering if it's the size of coop in relation to number of chickens.
How many birds total?
How big is coop, in feet by feet or meters by meters?

 

[Naser]

I live in Ireland and my hens free range 24/7, sometimes hens roost in trees in very cold winters, never had a problem.
If you don't want the hens to roost in trees you can prune the lower branches or clip the wings of the hens

 

[Lorielus]

Thanks a lot for all the advice all, it really is invaluable.

 

[Lorielus]

Welcome to BYC @Lorielus!
Could be stuffy in there due to a 'tight' coop?
Good ventilation is essential year round.

Sorry when I meant tight, I just mean it's not drafty or anything.

The coop is probably L1.5m by W1.5m by H1.25m so spacious enough for the four hens (2 sussex, 2 cream legbar, so pretty standard size hens too). The mesh/woodframe run is about L3m by W1.25m by H1.25m (sloped roof which I'm going to tack a plywood roof and wall onto for the winter to shelter them.

(I've a separate coop for the two ducks - they're happy to free range together with the chickens, but I figured the roosting/nesting behaviour is quite different so separate housing seemed sensible).

I'm just a little paranoid since it's my first winter with the birds, so just want to make sure they're comfortable, but from the thread it seems like they should be (with the aforementioned additions for extra shelter for the run itself).