Is it ok for my chickens to sleep in the run?

[nzchickmama]

I’ve got 2x 9 week old pullets (fully feathered and pretty big already!) and one 6 month old hen. The hen has always preferred to sleep in the secure run, rather than the hen house. Over the summer I figured she was cooler outside. I had been shutting the pullets in the hen house at night, but tonight I haven’t - to see what they’d do! They never go in of their own volition anyway.

All three girls are currently on the high perch in the run, where the big girl sleeps

Im ok with this.

My question is, do the chickens HAVE to sleep in the hen house? We live in the north of NZ, so it doesn’t get super cold here. The run is completely secure. If they prefer to sleep out there, is that ok?!

Note - big girl still goes into the hen house in the mornings to lay in the nesting boxes

 

[LateBirdFarms]

As long as their dry and have a place to get out of the wind and rain, they should be fine if you're weather is mild and you're confident of your runs security against predators. Chickens are usually exceptionally hardy animals.

 

[nzchickmama]

As long as their dry and have a place to get out of the wind and rain, they should be fine if you're weather is mild and you're confident of your runs security against predators. Chickens are usually exceptionally hardy animals.

Thanks - yeah the entire run is covered. So very rain proof! I suppose if it was extremely windy they’d get hit with that, but surely they’d opt to go into the hen house in that case?!

 

[LateBirdFarms]

Hah! Maybe? Chickens are creatures of habit, but they may return to the coop, that's something only your chickens can tell you. You can always hang a tarp or something similar to create a windbreak if you know your heading into bad weather.

 

[3KillerBs]

Could you show us pictures of the setup?

Is the perch in the run higher than the one in the coop?

What is the ventilation in the coop like?

 

[Matilda Belle]

If a predator catches the smallest glimpse of food, it will find a way in the run. My run is built very securely and I would never allow mine to sleep in the run. Just my 2 cents.

 

[nzchickmama]

If a predator catches the smallest glimpse of food, it will find a way in the run. My run is built very securely and I would never allow mine to sleep in the run. Just my 2 cents.

In NZ the only predators would be cats or dogs - we have both at home as it is, and they definitely can’t get into the run!

 

[nzchickmama]

Could you show us pictures of the setup?

Is the perch in the run higher than the one in the coop?

What is the ventilation in the coop like?

I don’t have a pic of the whole setup! I’ll take one shortly. Yep the perch in the run is pretty high - it couldn’t be that high in the coop as the coop is in a lower part of the run. There is good ventilation in the coop as the tops of the walls are open/mesh.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My question is, do the chickens HAVE to sleep in the hen house?

No, they don't have to. Chickens sleep in trees in climates a lot worse than yours. They can usually manage the weather a lot better than many people imagine.

The other issue is predators. If you are truly confident that they are protected from predators that's a non-issue. You are the one taking those risks.

 

[3KillerBs]

I don’t have a pic of the whole setup! I’ll take one shortly. Yep the perch in the run is pretty high - it couldn’t be that high in the coop as the coop is in a lower part of the run. There is good ventilation in the coop as the tops of the walls are open/mesh.

Chickens prefer to sleep up as high as they can get.