My chickens have grown used to roosting in an apple tree that is in the middle of the pen. It will soon be getting colder here in NC. How do I train them to roost inside the chicken house?
Is this their 1st winter? I assume it is. Mine gravitated to the coop when the cold winds started to blow. I would think they naturally prefer to be out of the wind. Do they lay their eggs in the coop? By that I mean they're not avoiding the coop are they? If not, then wait to see what happens at first frost. Otherwise, a net over the tree might work.
Catch them and lock them in the coop, with absolutely no access to the outside for a week, maybe two. This will train them to consider the coop home and where they want to roost at night. They'll hate you for it, but you'll be glad you did.
If you got a door to you coop start feeding them about a half an hour before dark. Feed them inside the coop then lock them up inside. It may help when all the leaves fall off. This may seem crazy but but at night act like your a predator and climb into the tree late at night and scare the living daylights out of them. Act like you a bear. Maybe they will decide that tree aint a good place to be at night.
I have read that if you put a lighted torch in the hen house, they will want to go to the light, and all you have to do is shut the door. I tried it when I added new birds to my flock, and I have to say I had a 50% success rate. But they had just had their heads drilled... Anyway You could try it - Seems a lot less stressful
If the apple tree is in a protected pen, they should be fine. Chickens know to seek shelter when they need it, not when their owners think they need it. Predators are a bigger threat than weather for you, in my opinion. Our friends' chickens have a coop with no door to close them in their coop. All last winter (one of the snowiest winters we've had in northern Utah in years) the chickens chose to sleep outside rather than in their coop every night. They were completely protected from any predator in their run all night long, by the way. They all survived (actually thrived). If they continue to choose the tree after a few nights of escorting them inside, I would say let the sleep outside if you can assure they won't be a midnight snack.
One Word: Scratch No kidding! A little goes along way. 2-3 evenings of throwing some scratch feed down and calling "here chick-chick" and they will follow you wherever you want! My girls just have to hear me talk and they start bantering. Jusy my 2 cents! Lisa