Questions about my coup...

[Zythophile]

Hello, I bought a premade coup for my two hens and have been having issues at dusk (day 2). Basically my hens use the coup a bit in the day if it's raining hard or I'm making a lot of noise/working too close to them, so they know it's there and have no issue getting in it! But when the sun sets thy decide to fly on top of the coup rather than go inside and onto the perches in the coup.

I have noticed though that a lot of threads here suggest perches to be higher than the neat box.

Here is my coup, mid painting.

As you can see the floor of the whole coup is flat - so the nest box floor and the perching area floor are the same hight, but the perches are about 3 inches off the floor of the roost area. Is this enough? Should I relocate the perches so thy are higher up?

I worry because they have pooped in the nest box a bit too...any suggestions? Thanks

 

[boskelli1571]

Hi,
It's hard to tell how tall your coop is from the pix. My perches are 12, 18 & 24 inches off the floor - is that feasible for you to do?? Pooping in the nest box is quite common, is there a lip/step into the nest box? Sometimes that helps, Sue

 

[jetdog]

If you attach a run to the coop have the top of the runcome to top of the door so they have no choice but to go into the coop at night, I would have the roost as high as they can be with reason for them to get up on.

 

[Zythophile]

Hello all, thanks for response.

Here is a pic of the inside of the coup.

The coup is 40cm off the floor and the point of the roof is 60cm higher than the floor. As you can see above the perches is another kind if ledge, should I fix the bars here instead?

Cheers

 

[jorey]

I would move the bars up. Actually I' d replace them with a 2 x4 broad side up and only put one roost in there. I'd place it about 2/3 of the way back from the door. That is just what I would do. 2 hens should be fine on the one roost. Good luck and that's a cute little coop.

 

[McKinneyMike]

Hello all, thanks for response.

Here is a pic of the inside of the coup.



The coup is 40cm off the floor and the point of the roof is 60cm higher than the floor. As you can see above the perches is another kind if ledge, should I fix the bars here instead?

Cheers

I would replace the two roost bars that you have with one 2x4 that was positioned with the wide side for their perch. Two hens don't need two roost bars. One is more than enough as they will huddle together anyway. The wider roost bar allows them to keep their feet up under their bodies and also more stable for them to perch on too.

 

[jorey]

Thanks for explaining why to go to one 2 x 4 roost. I often post what I would do and forget to put why.

 

[Zythophile]

Thanks very much for the advice, in glad my ideas weren't too off!

I shall see tonight how they get on. Buying a light for the coup today that I can put on just before dusk to try and persuade them in, then turn it off when I go to bed at about 9:30pm

 

[McKinneyMike]

As you can see the floor of the whole coup is flat - so the nest box floor and the perching area floor are the same hight, but the perches are about 3 inches off the floor of the roost area. Is this enough? Should I relocate the perches so thy are higher up?

I worry because they have pooped in the nest box a bit too...any suggestions? Thanks

Yes I would place the roost above the nesting boxes as they sound like that they are roosting inside of the nest boxes right now. Place the roost so that they have room to jump up to it easily. Chickens like to roost as high as they can, but you don't want them too high. They should stay out of the nest boxes at night if the roost is higher up. if they still try to use them block their access at evening time and remove the obstruction in the AM when you let them out. That should hopefully get them to roost on the bar after a few days/week of that.

 

[Zythophile]

Hello guys!

So today before I went to the brewery this morning I opened the coup to the enclosed run, replenished water and food then left them. Got home and they were still happy and headed into the coup. I shut them in and left. When I came back 10 mins later they were sitting on the divider between the roost and the nest box...Grrr. So I raised the perch as suggested and left them. 10 mins later they're still just looking at it :/

So I grabbed the larger hen, called Malt and plonked her on it - she hopped right off. So I put her back on it and sorta made her stay there. She settled down and I came back ten mins later and she was settled right down on the perch! Success!

So then I picked up my other hen, called Hops and put her on it and she settled right down... Hopefully they have got the idea now!