My chickens sit at the door of the coop..

[getaclue]

You didn't do anything wrong. It's their age, and newness of coop life. Give them time.

 

[Criticalicious]

Being a bit of a micro-manager, if they huddle up in a corner I will pick them up one by one and put them on the perch until they get the gist. They're usually happier for it

 

[Ljorgie77]

You didn't do anything wrong. It's their age, and newness of coop life. Give them time.

Thank You

 

[slordaz]

They don’t roost they cuddle up to one another. They are only 8 weeks old . I will put a thermometer inside thank You.

Maybe giving something to them to perch on low would help some, Mine were all perching in the brooder by day 5, they loved a empty paper towel roll with a rag over it so they didn't slip, they loved dowels too

 

[Coykoi]

So for the last couple of nights when they are going to bed my 4 pullets sit at the door of the coop with there heads out of the coop door. It has been warm the last couple of days . The coop feels the same temperature as outside. They do have there mouths open like they are panting . Any ideas will be greatly appreciated I’m a new chicken mom View attachment 1882293

My rooster and a lady or two will do that. I think he's guarding the entry to the cooper and the girls think the safest place to be is next to him. Mine do this year round.

 

[Cryss]

I started with 4 pullets in a coop like that. Someone told me they weren't roosting because they didn't have a roost. The coop had 2 roosting bars about 4 inches off the floor. Nests were next to the roosts. Roosts need to be higher than the nests or else the birds will sleep in the nests and consequently poop in them, bad habit, makes for very messy eggs. At the same time it wants to be low enough that when they fully stand up on them when they are fully grown their heads are not as high as the ventilation because that is now a draft on their heads. The 2 roosts themselves were about 1 foot long each. Full grown birds need 1 foot each. The roost area/room/walkingspace was about 1x3.5 (3.5sqft), nest area about the same. Roost/etc. space needs to be 4sqft PER adult chicken! I knew I was in trouble. The nesting area size was acceptable but very quickly was taken over by the adults. Fortunately they left one for egg laying. Ventilation? They each need 1sqft. This coop of mine had a total of 1.75sqft for all 4! My troubles were only beginning. My 4 birds needed 10sqft/bird or 40sqft total. This unit was 7x3.7 or 24.5sqft. Oh good grief! AND THEN THERE IS CHICKEN MATH! I now have 8 females and 1male. What to do, what to do? I bought 10x10x6 (100sqft) chain link dog run for their run leaving the coop unit inside Later I bought a second dog run, hooked them together, instant 10x30x6 (300sqft) run! Now, what about that coop? Plywood applied to all the fenced in walls and double doors, baffles added in them formore ventilation, and voila, an additional 24.5sqft!! Well...ok...temporarily. I'm almost ready to move my gals into a freshly built 8x12 walk in coop. I almost bought a wood home depot shed and converted it easily but my son in law stepped in and built this instead.
I offer my experience in this for some hints on what is needed and what can be done to accomplish it. It's been a hard lesson for me but I hope some of it helps you not go through that. I hope you get some good ideas from it and make it your own.
By the way, I'm in NJ too! Warren County.
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