Hens would rather roost outside

[jamesdeanreeves]

Howdy, All!

Our hens are doing something I'm not sure if I should be concerned about or not.

As you can see in the photo, the coop is on the right & the run is fenced with hardware cloth and a door that closes at night.

They've started roosting in the run at night on the bars in the run (circled). At first it was one hen, then a few nights later, a few more - you can guess the rest - they're all out there now.

I'm in the PAC-NW and the weather is not too extreme, and the coop/run is protected from wind & rain. The roost bars in the run are there because when it's pretty drippy outside, they hang out in the run.

Should I be concerned with them wanting to roost there at night? I can remove the roost bars and they'll go into the coop at night, but since we're not headed into the cold season, I'm thinking it might be OK - when it gets cold, I'll remove the roost and force them inside.

Or is there a concern with predators being more likely to be alerted to their presence if they're outside?

Thanks for any advice!
-J

 

[ChickenCanoe]

In my experience, most chickens would rather sleep outside than in a cave. But they will normally return to the place they slept safely the night before.
As long as your run is predator proof, there is nothing wrong with them sleeping out there. There is nothing better for their health than fresh air.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you consider your run predator proof it doesn't matter if the predators know if they are there or not. Whether they sleep outside or inside the predators probably know they are there anyway.

The reason to lock them in the coop at night is that it is usually easier to make a coop predator proof than a run. Lots of people with confidence in their run never lock the pop door. If the pop door is open it doesn't matter where the chickens sleep, inside or out. They are still vulnerable if a predator can get inside.

Raccoons have been known to reach through a fence and grab a chicken, then pull parts through the fence. If your hardware cloth has small enough openings that won't be possible. If the openings are not that small you might want to add some wire with small holes next to the end of that roost in case one sleeps over next to the fence.

It boils down to how confident are you in your run.