I think my chickens hate their coop!

[ADozenGirlz]

They need to be Coop Trained. If you Google "The Chicken Chick, coop training" you can read how. It's easy and winter is a good time for it.

 

[HennyPennyCO]

Hi Linnea1024,
Got to agree with the heat/cold comments. I'm in Colorado and our temps go below zero fairly regularly. (And that's below zero, not below freezing!) The coop is an A-frame with the living quarters/nest boxes in the upper section. It is not heated. I try to keep bedding up there but the girls (four of them) scratch it out and hurl it down their ladder almost as fast as I can put it there! They do keep the bedding in their nest boxes, I'm glad to say. I did set a Lucite windbreak on the lower N side of the coop (the sloped sides of the A are on the N & S sides) and the hens seem to appreciate it. The bedding is piled high in the lower section and they have a heyday scratching through it and hanging out there.
About roosting high: Yes, the girls prefer to spend the night roosting on the TOP bar of their coop, even in sub-zero weather. When I feel that I just must pick them off the roof and shut them inside their coop, they feel as warm as toast.
We have hawks here too and one of the first things we did was to put a hardware cloth/PVC piping roof over the whole chicken run. (It's a chain-link dog run.) There are trees behind the run and I think if we hadn't done this, the hens would be roosting in the trees like yours do. Loved your photos of them, BTW.
Cheers,
Penny

 

[Kdesautell]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only rebel against my hoa with "bootleg" chickens! Sadly, this year I got one REALLY sweet roo in the lot....and the neighbor's definitely complained when he started crowing

 

[miwin1000]

Just put the box up higher...put legs on it or find some surface you can set it on, then add a ladder or way for them to get up to the door. My birds hate the coop but are glad to have it at night. I have 6 birds (RIRs) in a 4 bird coop. They fit nicely. 1 bird in each box, and the other 2 on the roost. Sometimes one bird likes it on the ground and she builds herself a nest on the ground...lol. I have one gal setting right now, even tho it's middle of winter here in central AZ.

 

[Zoopilla]

How about stacking cinder blocks under the coop. You can stack them, put rebar in the inside of the blocks and add cement. Viola! Super sturdy legs. Go to Home Depot, lowes hardware store and ask for instructions they'll help you. Alternately you can ask them for other ideas for some high legs or something to raise the coop up. Good luck.

 

[Hannahs Hollow]

Have you thought to clip one wing? I only do it on my flighty girls and seem to have to do it only once a year. Keeps them in the pen!

 

[miwin1000]

I also clipped one wing on all my girls..but that didn't keep them from jumping/flying up to the top rail of the fence...they like to escape their yard that way. They only did that the first year. Now they stay in the yard pretty well (had a couple good scares with neighborhood dog escapees...) now tho. Once in a while I let them out of the yard during the day to scratch and catch bugs, but then have to make sure they are all back in the yard before sundown. Once one of the girls didn't get back in before sundown and she ended up staying out in the wash all night (with the javelina) and I found her waiting at the gate in the morning. I was so scared...but she seemed to be perfectly happy. Now she makes sure she gets back in when I call for them....I whistle and they all come running...hahahaha. it's so funny. I whistle and first here comes the cat, then the dogs, then the whole heard of chickens!

 

[Purpletie3]

How about stacking cinder blocks under the coop. You can stack them, put rebar in the inside of the blocks and add cement. Viola! Super sturdy legs. Go to Home Depot, lowes hardware store and ask for instructions they'll help you. Alternately you can ask them for other ideas for some high legs or something to raise the coop up. Good luck.

Could do a solo tube with some concrete to make a peir footing.

 

[Bob G]

Either you didn't say or I missed it the number of chooks (4?) you have to keep in that small age. Each chicken needs approximately four square feet of space in order to not be too crowded. Also, my recommendation for roosts is 2X4 lumber, so they can roost on the wide side. This way, they can sit on their feet, helping to keep them warmer at night. Each bird should have 12" to 18" of space on the roost. Because they won't come home at night, they need to be coop trained. Once you get them all in the coop, do not let them out for about a week. This will re-home their internal GPS so they know where home is. I don't think that coop/cage in the photo is large enough for them. I looked on CraigsList and found someone who was selling a 5' X 7' coop. I bought it and am now in the process of installing it at my place. I will receive nine laying hens in about a week. 5X7=35 square feet; 9X4=36 square feet, so they'll be just right for the first 30 days here, as I will need to quarantine them from the rest of my flock. That period will also re-home them to this location. Look on the net, especially on chicken pages, to see coops/hutches other chicken afficionados have built. From what I've heard, the chooks should not be allowed to sleep in the nesting boxes. If they do that, they tend to poop in them, too, which is unhealthy because they then sleep on the poop. It also makes it harder to keep the nesting boxes clean. If you see them sleeping in the nests, physically take them out and place them on the roost so they learn where they are supposed to sleep. You've got a good start. I wish you the best of luck with your flock. (BTW, I have gotten much valuable information from this site, from www.thechickenchick.com, Facebook page The Chickenistas!, the FB page Friendly Poultry Group, and there are other sites as well.)