I have seen a few threads lately about this very thing, but I have yet to see a reason given. So I am going to add my story to the list.
My chickens, 6 hens and 2 roos that are 7 months old now, have recently started roosting on the coop floor all in the same corner for the most part. The coop is pretty big, I think it is 8x10 or 10x12, and they have 3 perches up high that up until now they used. One is over 6 foot long, one is about 5 foot and the smaller one is about 4 foot. The same 3 chickens normally roost on the shorter one together and the other 5 generally roost on the middle sized one together. At the beginning of last week I found 7 of them huddled in a corner together when I went to "tuck" them in for the night. It was around 8 just after I got home from work. Normally they would have all been roosting up high when I get home. Only the dominant roo is in his normal location, even the other roo is on the floor with then girls.
Here are photos of the coop so you can see that they have more than adequate space...
This is the corner they huddle together in.
Here are some of the things I have noticed that I think might be adding to the change in behavior.
What do you think?
My chickens, 6 hens and 2 roos that are 7 months old now, have recently started roosting on the coop floor all in the same corner for the most part. The coop is pretty big, I think it is 8x10 or 10x12, and they have 3 perches up high that up until now they used. One is over 6 foot long, one is about 5 foot and the smaller one is about 4 foot. The same 3 chickens normally roost on the shorter one together and the other 5 generally roost on the middle sized one together. At the beginning of last week I found 7 of them huddled in a corner together when I went to "tuck" them in for the night. It was around 8 just after I got home from work. Normally they would have all been roosting up high when I get home. Only the dominant roo is in his normal location, even the other roo is on the floor with then girls.
Here are photos of the coop so you can see that they have more than adequate space...
This is the corner they huddle together in.
Here are some of the things I have noticed that I think might be adding to the change in behavior.
- on my days off from work I am home all day and keep the "chicken" door as well as the big door open so that the coop can air out. But on the days that I work only the small "chicken" door is open so this means that there is much less light in the coop when they head in for the night.
- In addition to this, it has been getting pretty cold here at night so we have closed the peep window on the big door to cut down on the draft and cross breeze because it is direct line with where they are roosting. I still keep the back window cracked though so they have enough fresh air venting in the coop. But by keeping the peep window closed, this also means the light coming in is significantly decreased. The back of the coop is about 8 feet in front of some big Leland Cyprus trees and is on south facing side so there is little to no light that gets in from this window.
- On my days home when the coop is all opened up, they are going to the roosts as normal. It is only on the days that I am not home when the coop is essentially dark that they are huddling on the floor.
What do you think?