Girls won't sleep in their coop

[mlfairbanks]

We have forur girls with us since June they are doing extremely well. Very happy, eating well and laying. A weed ago they stopped sleeping in their coop. There were no signs of a predator so I worried that there might be spider mites! we scrubbed The entire coop out , added a layer of diatomaceous earth all over everything trying to kill off anything that might be in there. And cleaned it to days in a row. They still won't go in. Last night I put them in by hand and shut the door. But tonight they refused to go in again. So I put them in once again by hand. Am I doing the wrong thing? I read that you may have to retrain them once they have left the coop I am pretty sure that the really scrubbed it clean and they shouldn't have a problem any longer. But not sure how to proceed. Can anyone help? worried!

 

[drumstick diva]

Did you let the coop air out and dry before letting them back in? Has it been very hot in your area- maybe the coop is too hot for them. Actually DE doesn't do anything if they do have an infestation of mites. If so they don't want to go back in the coop because night is when they get bitten. You would have to treat coop and chickens with a bona fide miticide product - your feed store should have. Have they been scratching and biting at themselves, or showing any redness or feather loss?

 

[junebuggena]

How big is their coop and what breeds are your girls?

 

[Karen123]

We have barred rock hens who taken to sleeping on top of their coop but still go in to lay eggs. I am wondering if this is normal. Their coop is inside a large pen and we do let them out of the pen during the day. Is it possible they consider the whole pen their coop?

 

[junebuggena]

Is their pen covered? Are they safe from nighttime predators? If they are safe then let them be. If a racoon, owl, or other predator could get them, physically place them in the coop and shut them in. How high and wide are the roost bars inside the coop? You do need to train young/new birds to go in the coop in the evening.

 

[N F C]

Welcome to BYC!

It's safest to get the birds inside their coop for the night. What are the dimensions of your coop? Is it well ventilated? Some photos of your set up would be helpful to figuring out what is going on.

 

[mlfairbanks]

They are ri reds. Have been sleeping in the coop al summer no problem then one day just stopped.
Yes coop was completely dry before they returned
Will send pictures of coop so you can see. I don't honk its heat as evenings are cool now
I rest DE was a great cure for mites. I hesitate to use really toxic stuff. Am adding wood ash today to all their dirt baths and even inside the coop

The pen is covered but with cold weather approaching they have to go inside the coop
They are not losing feathers or scratching too much. That I notice

 

[mlfairbanks]

 

[mlfairbanks]

. They have black on their faces but this might just be mud

 

[mlfairbanks]