My chickens don't like my coop! What am I doing wrong?

[21hens-incharge]

Why does it have to be a wood floor when raised up? I was planning on just putting the whole thing on stacks of cinder blocks. (It already has a floor made of hardware cloth)

Yes it has a roost bar, and they use it, they sleep on it at night.
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The nesting box has a lid I raise up to grab eggs.

When we first brought them home, they would sleep in the nesting boxes. I read that I had to break them of that habit so I closed the door to the nesting boxes at night, forcing them to sleep on the roost bar. After just a few nights of doing this I no longer had to close the door to the nesting boxes anymore. On really cold nights they would sleep in the nesting boxes and then the next night they would sleep on the roost bar like good little chickens without me having to close the door to the nesting boxes. (There is a little door at the top of the ramp).

That said, I'm starting to think what happened is when it got nasty, they started sleeping on my raised deck on the coiled up garden hose, and now they realize they prefer it to their coop - even a clean coop.

My deck pictured in foreground (this was first day we got them, back when we had three):
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I've been meaning to put a fence around the deck anyway because it's become the "poop deck".

But they will probably still not go into their coop because sometimes they sleep on the ground next to the AC unit. So if I block off the deck they're just going to huddle next to the AC unit instead of going to their coop.

I'm wondering if I keep them cooped up in their coop all day for many days this will retrain them. They are definitely NOT going to be happy about that - I had them cooped up for half a day once when I did fence repair and they were very vocal about it.

Thank you for the clarifications.

Forgive me if I'm way off base, but I think you may be referring to the whole run/"house" area as the coop. While everyone else is referring to just the "house" as the coop with the wired area as a run. I think this because when someone asked about a roost, you showed a roost in the outside area, the run. Is the coop open to the run? Or does it have a small chicken door in it going out to the run?

That is my understanding now too. The solid structure is the best box from what I read and the "coop" is the open air (looking like a run) part.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

I have been confused about the naming of things.

The enclosed section (as seen in my profile pic) is just two nesting boxes and a little rectangle area with bedding for them to wipe their feet before going into the nesting boxes. This area is fine, no issues whatsoever here. Yes there's two holes on each of the 3 sides, a total of 6 holes.

The enclosed section needs to be big enough to house 4sqFt per bird and that doesn’t include nesting box areas. They shouldn’t stay out in the run to roost. They need that behind a wall.

@casportpony

 

[Dead Diamonds]

 

[21hens-incharge]

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This looks big enough to convert into a small coop with a best box for 2 hens.

Easy peasy! Take out the light, and the wall. Put a roost across the right end and a single nest in the left. That should help.
getting it raised off the ground will help with the roosting on the deck too. Birds want to be up high.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

This looks big enough to convert into a small coop with a best box for 2 hens.

Easy peasy! Take out the light, and the wall. Put a roost across the right end and a single nest in the left. That should help.
getting it raised off the ground will help with the roosting on the deck too. Birds want to be up high.

This coop is not big enough to even convert for two hens. It looks only big enough for one if you take out a nesting box. The OP needs a new coop.

 

[msmeg26]

Looks like coop needs more ventilation, at least from the posted picture...

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hmm ok... in that case, I can see why this might be hard to elevate. My prior coop was similar-ish (open wire on 3 sides) that was getting wet all the time inside because of rain because and it was on ground level. And I was getting mold in weird areas (like under the nest box, which was a modified dog house).

Would you consider building a new coop? Doesn't have to be fancy, but aim for something more enclosed (while still ventilated) and elevated off the ground. It really makes a huge difference as far as moisture levels to not have the coop on the ground in wetter climates. My coop litter could never stay dry before but now it's bone dry even during windy rainstorms.

 

[21hens-incharge]

This coop is not big enough to even convert for two hens. It looks only big enough for one if you take out a nesting box. The OP needs a new coop.

Maybe we need dimensions......

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Can you measure the structure (currently the nest box) and post in feet by feet what it is please?

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

Maybe we need dimensions......



Can you measure the structure (currently the best box) and post in feet by feet what it is please?

It’ll need to be at least 8sqFt minus nesting area.

 

[Dead Diamonds]

Ok. So the enclosed outdoor area (the "run"?) is 6' x 2.5' of usable floor space minus the ramp. The enclosed area is 2' x 2.5' - minus the divider walls taking up floor space.