Hi I've just become a new member my name is Joanne:-)

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Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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Iwiw has given you some great advice! Definitely raise your roost bar. It won't take much, just a bit higher than the inside of the boxes. Block off the nest boxes at night so they can't sleep in them and then open them up during the day. Eventually they will get the hang of sleeping on the bar and you won't need to block off the nest boxes.

Your birds may be stressed from moving to a new home, which can take a month to get over. Or they may not be ready to lay yet. So just give them time to adjust and hopefully you start to get those eggs soon!!

Enjoy your new flock and welcome to ours!
 
Hi and thanks for the warm welcome and the brill advise. I've already changed the perch up as high as it will go and still leave them some headroom and they are now 4inch across by 2 inch depthand blocked off the nest in box and cleaned out so I will see how tonight goes thanks everyone Jo
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. Iwiw60 and Kelsie2290 have given you some good advice so I'll just say, congratulations on your new hens, and please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in getting those eggs.
 
Okay, then! Looking at your pics you need to make some major changes on the inside that I can see.




I'm not positive, but I "think" I see 2 roosting bars sitting real close to the ground...one right in front of the nest boxes and one opposite of it right in front of the pophole. I would highly suggest that you remove BOTH of those and replace with 2 x 4's laying flat on the side where the original pophole is (on the side of the coop facing that rock wall). First one about 12" high and about even with the right side of the regular doorway in the above pic, the second one about 12" higher than the first and set back toward the original pophole door. Make sure you leave enough "butt room" on that top roost so they're not too crowded.

Next, I would close OFF that original pophole completely...don't even use it. The way you have your coop sitting in the setup I would use that open doorway as in the above pic as their pophole and put up a ladder/walkway up to it for the girls to use.



Now for your real problem....the coop roof...yikes! Looks like they've been allowed to 'roost' up there for some time. Eventually your roof will rot from poop buildup and you don't want that. Since your coop is entirely covered with a tarp roof covering you might take some 2 x 3's and attach one to each outside corner of the coop tall enough to "clear" the top of the roofline. Then just slap some chicken wire around the whole thing and that should keep them off. Whatever works for you, but you do need to get them off of there.


I see that you have your girls walking on wire on the floor of their run....BIG no-no. Just imagine yourself walking around on wire all day long....it's a bumblefoot disaster waiting to happen. You really need to re-think that wire and get it out of there. Surprisingly enough, chicken's feet are very tender/soft (even though they sure don't look like it!).

I wish you all the best and give us a holler if you have any questions about my suggestions!!
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Welcome to BYC!
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We're glad to have you.

Iwiw60 has given you some good advice. However, I'll add that a wire floor to the run isn't neccesarily bad. Lots of people keep chickens on wire with no ill effects. As long as there aren't protruding pieces or sharp edges, they should be fine.
 
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Glad you joined us!

X2 on Iwiw's advice. I agree with Wyandottes7, though, that a wire floor (provided there are no sharp pieces sticking out) is fine for chickens to live on.
 
Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

The above posters have given you great advice so I'll just say glad you joined!
 
Hi everyone thanks for your advise and just checking do you mean the stripey flooring as this is wood decking not metal ???
Thanks Joanne
 

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