Is this weird or normal?

[sayccrn]

How old are they? I am wondering if you should just start removing all shade on sunny days to force them to realize it’s ok. Block off the under coop hiding spot?

I have 5 and only two have started laying, so they are still young'ish. I've thought about that too, but I don't want to stress them out. You think it will be ok for them?

 

[LizzzyJo]

I have 5 and only two have started laying, so they are still young'ish. I've thought about that too, but I don't want to stress them out. You think it will be ok for them?

Oh they would absolutely be fine. Uncover on a few nice days and see if it works. I assume you have hawk prevention?

 

[sayccrn]

Oh they would absolutely be fine. Uncover on a few nice days and see if it works. I assume you have hawk prevention?

I will, thank you! Yes, that's why I have them imprisoned in the enclosure, hawks. dozens of them. They can smell when I let them, not even 10 minutes they are circling overhead.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Once again chicken TV is better than anything on cable, satellite, or antenna.

How much time have you given them to get used to no tarp? Chickens don't like change. The best example I have of that is that when mine wake up to a white world they are not going out in that but if the snow falls during the day when they are already out they stay out. It's not the snow that bothers them but the change. After two or three days of staying in the coop some will venture out but they don't do that immediately.

Since they are OK on a cloudy day but not on a sunny day it's not just that the expected tarp is not there. For you to know that they have probably been given enough opportunities. So yes it is kind if mysterious.

I don't think what they are doing is hurting them at all. The reason I'd want to change is if it is somehow inconvenient to you. I agree with LizzyJo, I would not force them. Just give them the option to to come out in the sun when and if they want to.

I sometimes keep chicks locked in the coop only for a while. When I open the pop door to give them access to the run for the first time every one may be on the ground within 15 minutes. But I've seen some broods to take into the third day before the first one builds up the courage to leave the safety of the coop. Just be patient and let them do the work.

 

[sayccrn]

Once again chicken TV is better than anything on cable, satellite, or antenna.

How much time have you given them to get used to no tarp? Chickens don't like change. The best example I have of that is that when mine wake up to a white world they are not going out in that but if the snow falls during the day when they are already out they stay out. It's not the snow that bothers them but the change. After two or three days of staying in the coop some will venture out but they don't do that immediately.

Since they are OK on a cloudy day but not on a sunny day it's not just that the expected tarp is not there. For you to know that they have probably been given enough opportunities. So yes it is kind if mysterious.

I don't think what they are doing is hurting them at all. The reason I'd want to change is if it is somehow inconvenient to you. I agree with LizzyJo, I would not force them. Just give them the option to to come out in the sun when and if they want to.

I sometimes keep chicks locked in the coop only for a while. When I open the pop door to give them access to the run for the first time every one may be on the ground within 15 minutes. But I've seen some broods to take into the third day before the first one builds up the courage to leave the safety of the coop. Just be patient and let them do the work.

Thank you! Ok. so I shouldn't close the door to thie under the coop run? But leave off the side tarp? Which I would prefer, cuz then I can watch chicken tv, and see them fully. Which I like to do from my back porch.

 

[cmom]

My birds prefer the shade to the sun too. Once in awhile some will come out to sun bathe but they prefer the shade. I planted trees several years ago and made rain/shade tables for them to get under. On sunny days a lot of them are under the tables or the shade from the trees. My land is mostly open pasture. When I have opened the gates to let them out they may come out for a very short time and before I know it there all back in their nice shady pens. Good luck... Here are my tables.

 

[sayccrn]

My birds prefer the shade to the sun too. Once in awhile some will come out to sun bathe but they prefer the shade. I planted trees several years ago and made rain/shade tables for them to get under. On sunny days a lot of them are under the tables or the shade from the trees. My land is mostly open pasture. When I have opened the gates to let them out they may come out for a very short time and before I know it there all back in their nice shady pens. Good luck... Here are my tables.

Yup, that's what mine do too. they look like yours under the tables. I'm in GA and your in FL, maybe they just prefer the shade in warmer climates?

 

[Ridgerunner]

So yours will go out in the sun. That's different than I was thinking. A common behavior with chickens is that they eat to fill up their crop and then retreat to a safer spot to digest the food and just hang with each other. They are more vulnerable to predators when they are eating and hawks seem to be their biggest fear. Shade usually means they can hide from hawks.

It doesn't sound like yours have much to eat out in the sun so they don't go out there much. No reason to expose themselves to hawks. Mine forage on green stuff a lot but they also spend a lot of time under trees or in a covered run. I haven't paid any attention to bight sun versus cloudy days but maybe they are less worried about hawks on cloudy days? I don't know.

 

[sayccrn]

So yours will go out in the sun. That's different than I was thinking. A common behavior with chickens is that they eat to fill up their crop and then retreat to a safer spot to digest the food and just hang with each other. They are more vulnerable to predators when they are eating and hawks seem to be their biggest fear. Shade usually means they can hide from hawks.

It doesn't sound like yours have much to eat out in the sun so they don't go out there much. No reason to expose themselves to hawks. Mine forage on green stuff a lot but they also spend a lot of time under trees or in a covered run. I haven't paid any attention to bight sun versus cloudy days but maybe they are less worried about hawks on cloudy days? I don't know.

No, they won't go in the sun. the sun comes out and they go under the coop. their food and water are in the sun. they are enclosed to protect them from the hawks. I've tried to let them out and the hawks start circling.

 

[cmom]

Sometimes I put flock blocks under the tables for them to peck at. They do get treats but not every day. I do keep them in their pens but as I said in a previous post my land is mostly open pasture so there is no shade. I do have one big oak in the pasture but they don't like to venture that far away from the coops and my pens are quite large. I have lost too many birds in the past so now they pretty much stay in their large safe pens. Even when I'm out working around the coops and leave a gate open they will stay in their pens. As @Ridgerunner said Chickens don't like change. They are creatures of habits and like routines. Again, good luck and have fun...