Hen's not using the chicken coop - why?

[mrrossi]

Hi again all. So... I made some modifications over the past week or two. The slide out tray was removed, the coop shifted about on the concrete slabs it's on so one was removed- i.e. "raising" the coop. The tray was placed on the floor directly underneath. I also sawed away the bottom wooden bar "blocking" the original based of the door, hence making a nice easy open entrance. I also took away the first roosting bar. The idea being the chickens could easily walk inside, they had access to a roost bar at a nicer height, and could then hop up to the nesting boxes easily.

That didn't work - they didn't want to go in. So I added a heat lamp, so it was warm and light in one of the nest boxes.

All that did was make them even happier to just stay sat on the roof of the nest box (their usual position) as that was now warm and a bit lighter (shining from inside on the underside of the lid).

So..... I put their food inside - but they refuse to go in!!! They were really hungry the next morning. If I pull the food container out a bit to the edge of the door (2nd photo) then they'll tentatively peck at the food; if I push it deeper in... NOPE!

Why are they scared of the coop?!?

I thought the metal base of the tray may be unpleasant - like cats don't like tin foil?? So covered with a bit more hay, but they just pecked at it, looking for food.

Any more ideas please? I could remove the tray completely, so the "ground" is the same, I guess (I wanted it to catch poop, but they just poop all over the nest box roof currently)...

 

[Mouthpear]

Hi again all. So... I made some modifications over the past week or two. The slide out tray was removed, the coop shifted about on the concrete slabs it's on so one was removed- i.e. "raising" the coop. The tray was placed on the floor directly underneath. I also sawed away the bottom wooden bar "blocking" the original based of the door, hence making a nice easy open entrance. I also took away the first roosting bar. The idea being the chickens could easily walk inside, they had access to a roost bar at a nicer height, and could then hop up to the nesting boxes easily.

That didn't work - they didn't want to go in. So I added a heat lamp, so it was warm and light in one of the nest boxes.

All that did was make them even happier to just stay sat on the roof of the nest box (their usual position) as that was now warm and a bit lighter (shining from inside on the underside of the lid).

So..... I put their food inside - but they refuse to go in!!! They were really hungry the next morning. If I pull the food container out a bit to the edge of the door (2nd photo) then they'll tentatively peck at the food; if I push it deeper in... NOPE!

Why are they scared of the coop?!?

I thought the metal base of the tray may be unpleasant - like cats don't like tin foil?? So covered with a bit more hay, but they just pecked at it, looking for food.

Any more ideas please? I could remove the tray completely, so the "ground" is the same, I guess (I wanted it to catch poop, but they just poop all over the nest box roof currently)...

Can't see the back but from the front, there doesn't seem to be any ventilation but two small holes.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hi again all. So... I made some modifications over the past week or two. The slide out tray was removed, the coop shifted about on the concrete slabs it's on so one was removed- i.e. "raising" the coop. The tray was placed on the floor directly underneath. I also sawed away the bottom wooden bar "blocking" the original based of the door, hence making a nice easy open entrance. I also took away the first roosting bar. The idea being the chickens could easily walk inside, they had access to a roost bar at a nicer height, and could then hop up to the nesting boxes easily.

That didn't work - they didn't want to go in. So I added a heat lamp, so it was warm and light in one of the nest boxes.

All that did was make them even happier to just stay sat on the roof of the nest box (their usual position) as that was now warm and a bit lighter (shining from inside on the underside of the lid).

So..... I put their food inside - but they refuse to go in!!! They were really hungry the next morning. If I pull the food container out a bit to the edge of the door (2nd photo) then they'll tentatively peck at the food; if I push it deeper in... NOPE!

Why are they scared of the coop?!?

I thought the metal base of the tray may be unpleasant - like cats don't like tin foil?? So covered with a bit more hay, but they just pecked at it, looking for food.

Any more ideas please? I could remove the tray completely, so the "ground" is the same, I guess (I wanted it to catch poop, but they just poop all over the nest box roof currently)...

Ventilation still is an issue since all the openings are very low, nothing at roost level or above, and I personally don't see the point of the tray being on the ground - might as well remove it and just put in bedding.

The new openings down low do need to be predator proofed unless your run is predator proof enough that you don't think it's an issue.

At this point I think you're just going to have to manually put them inside each night until they get the hint.

 

[aart]

I still think it's just too small.

 

[mrrossi]

Thanks all for the replies.

Ventilation - I thought with the huge gap underneath there would be plenty but perhaps they need "roost height" ventilation as mentioned here; can't recall off the top of my head whether those two holes are repeated on the other side (and there is a 1cm gap or so between the coop and the shed) but if not I'll add more ventilation. Surely that's not stopping them going in though?!

Tray - the point was I could lift it out easily to clean. But not much harder to just insert a spade underneath and scrape out dirt anyway, so will remove!

Predator proof - whole "courtyard" (enclosed area down side of house between house, garage and shed) is closed off and sealed / covered over the top with chicken wire.

Size - too small? There's nest boxes for 4 chickens and there's only 3 chickens. They could all easily roost on the bar side by side too, instead they currently squeeze together into a small space on top of the one next box, so I don't think it's too small inside - BUT: perhaps that opening is still too small? I don't think I can easily modified to make wider BUT I could lift the whole thing higher so it's more "open" and perhaps less "scary" to them and they'll be happy to walk under it and perhaps actually enter it?

Manually putting them in - well, it's not really possible now as it's fairly open! I put one in - it'll just go straight out. There's no way to close it now I'd removed the door bar - even if I drop that door down, the way the coop is raised up they'd just squeeze out under the bottom.

 

[McChooky]

My chickens have a predator proof run made out of pallets and hardware cloth. I staple plastic on the exterior walls so wind doesn't blow on the chickens on the roost and a tarp does the rest. Its cool in the summer and comfortable all winter. Chickens can bear the cold better than heat because they have feathers.Heat lamps increase the humidity and cause damp feathers.Chickens should not roost in a coop with poor ventilation and heat lamps.

 

[aart]

Size - too small? There's nest boxes for 4 chickens and there's only 3 chickens.

Number of nests has nothing to do with the capacity of coop, just the vagaries of the coop 'designer'.
Minimal rule of thumb for floor space in a coop is 4sqft per bird.

They could all easily roost on the bar side by side too, instead they currently squeeze together into a small space on top of the one next box

How long and wide, in inches, are the roost bars?

 

[McChooky]

Ventilation still is an issue since all the openings are very low, nothing at roost level or above, and I personally don't see the point of the tray being on the ground - might as well remove it and just put in bedding.

The new openings down low do need to be predator proofed unless your run is predator proof enough that you don't think it's an issue.

At this point I think you're just going to have to manually put them inside each night until they get the hint.

The heat lamp will kill the chickens faster than any predator

 

[mrrossi]

Thanks guys - I only added the heat lamp last week on the advice from here...! It's a low wattage one (I'll double check that) and not particular hot.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

If I can make a suggestion - do you have room to build a wooden 'box' that the coop can be mounted on top of, increasing the coop size? You want to aim for just under a metre square for each bird inside the coop, not including the nest boxes. If you could build a larger box, mount the current coop on top then you can attach roost bars at a good height and cut ventilation panels into th old coop, or just hardware mesh the open door/old nest boxes. Also, not sure where you live but chicken wire is not predator proof for many critters. I worry about your coop being open without protection at night.