New to chickens- Roosting and Coop questions

[hollieben]

I have posted a photo for reference to my questions, though it was not quite done in this photo but you get the idea. So my chickens are about 8 weeks old and they have been living in their newly finished coop about 1 week now. We have roosting poles up in the house (on the left side) Nesting boxes are on the right. I have also put in a roosting bar in the enclosed area since the photo. Here is my question. At night, my girls like to sleep on the stairs that go up to the house or the roosting bar in the enclosed area. I am wondering should I move them inside and encourage them to sleep up in the house? Is that a natural behavior that will occur as they get older? They just really seem to like the open area, but I worry about predators, winters, etc. if it becomes a lifetime habit. We have predator proofed it to our best ability and haven't had any problems yet. I have treated the house for mites, though I've never seen any. We have hay in the nesting boxes, though I know they're too young to lay yet. I just thought they'd naturally roost inside that enclosed box. It's hard to tell from this angle, but it is ventilated and my husband even put in a window. How important is it that they roost up there?? This is ALL new to us so any advice is very welcome
Thanks again!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Don't worry about winter unless you live where blizzards are common, worry about predators. It's only important they roost there if it isn't predator proof.
A friend here has a similar setup, albeit a bit larger, but they opt to roost in the run all winter - never once sleeping in the coop.
They are outdoor animals and love/prosper with fresh air.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

Is it very dark inside when it's bedtime? If so you might want to add a little light just at bedtime or a small ventilation window -- anything to make it just a little brighter inside as the sun goes down. Their instinct is to find the highest safe spot to sleep but if it is too dark to see the roosts inside the coop then its going to register as not safe to them or they just cant find their way.

Age could also be a factor eight weeks is young and they are still working it out -- but whatever habits they develop now they are likely going to keep unless other interrupted. I would make sure they have enough light and then start putting them on the roosts in the evening.

Do they ever go inside during the day?

 

[ADKChickenChick]

When I first placed my chickens in their coop they were about the same age. They would all go out underneath the coop during the day and when night would come they would sleep in a big huddle in the corner of the run. Every night for two weeks I would have to crawl under the coop and manually lift all 30 chickens into the coop to my husband. We would then shut them in for the night. After the first week some caught on and others still need to be lifted in. The first night that they were all inside by themselves we felt like throwing a party! They will all catch on.

 

[hollieben]

There is a window in the house, so they have daylight until there is none. Only one of them venture up there on any sort of regular basis. There are six total.We live in TN so winters aren't too rough. I actually like them sleeping out of the box because they poop on the ground and it's easier to clean. But I wasn't sure if that was ideal or not. I could start putting them in there at night. I just wasn't sure if I really needed to or if they'd figure out what's best on their own. Since they are still a bit away from egg laying stage I guess the same question for that stage. Will they automatically look for that nesting box when they're ready? I have never seen them go into that part side. We have sand in the bottom of the coop now and it's easy to clean and they seem to like it. I have nothing up in the house though except hay in the nesting boxes. What should be up there, if anything? Thanks