Help! Chickens suddenly stopped sleeping in coop!

[Chickens-are-cool]

Hmmm. Can you put them in and shut the door? Give the coop a thorough inspection in the morning to see if there are mites or other critters. Also, does the coop smell like ammonia? That could drive them out, too. I'm sure others will have ideas, but that's where I'd start. Good luck!

Thank you, I am going to check for mites at dusk today, there is no way that I know of any critters could’ve possibly gotten in the coop, as it is raised and very secure. I am hoping it was a one time thing and I don’t have to move them to their coop every night as it can get really cold and I sure don’t want to be out there!

 

[Chickens-are-cool]

x2. I'd manually put them in if needed, and do a thorough search for mites (dusk is a good time to look, take a paper towel and run it under the roost, and if there's red smears, those are roost mites) and any evidence of other pests/predators intruding. Since they suddenly made a ruckus and then ran out, I'm guessing it could be a mouse, a rat... or possibly something outside the coop that's larger.

Thanks! I will make sure to check today.

 

[aart]

I found that 3 of them had been sleeping in their run!

You had this problem before, did it resolve that time?:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-kicked-off-roost.1426826/

Yes, I have doors that I open daily (weather permitting) to air out the coop.

They need ventilation 24/7.

I don’t think so, the dimensions are the right size based on square footage per hen.

What square footage is that?

Seeing your coop and knowing your geographical location has been asked for before but you didn't care the share....but it really would help.

Thank you, I am going to check for mites at dusk today, there is no way that I know of any critters could’ve possibly gotten in the coop, as it is raised and very secure. I am hoping it was a one time thing and I don’t have to move them to their coop every night as it can get really cold and I sure don’t want to be out there!

But you had them before?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mites.1399752/

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yep! I open the doors daily to make sure that there is some air movement in there!

A door open during the day is not ventilation - I do not include any of my doors into my ventilation calculations, because they're closed at night, when ventilation is most crucial.

A rough minimum of 1 sq ft per bird of draft free ventilation open 24/7 should be the goal.