Long post! Thanks in advance for reading and for any advice.
I have seven 9 week old pullets who had been going into their coop at night and then suddenly 4 nights ago slept on the roof for 2 nights, unbeknownst to me. I figured it out after the 2nd night and have been moving them into the coop myself the past 2 nights. Once they’re in, they settle just fine.
I THINK this started because it got warm and there wasn’t enough air flow into the coop. So this week, I put windows with hardware cloth in. This should give them plenty of air flow but how do I encourage them to start going back in at night? One of them did on her own last night…. Do you think the rest may decide to follow her? Do I just need to keep putting them in myself for a while? When they first started sleeping in their coop full time I had a lamp in there to encourage them to go in at dusk.
Also… the run that the coop is in is chicken wire. I didn’t know better at first and will be building a new run with lumber and hardware cloth soon. In the meantime I’ve taken measures to keep predators from digging under… the run has withstood at least one attempted raccoon incursion from the top (my neighbors observed). But I still don’t feel like it’s safe for them to sleep outside their coop!
I have seven 9 week old pullets who had been going into their coop at night and then suddenly 4 nights ago slept on the roof for 2 nights, unbeknownst to me. I figured it out after the 2nd night and have been moving them into the coop myself the past 2 nights. Once they’re in, they settle just fine.
I THINK this started because it got warm and there wasn’t enough air flow into the coop. So this week, I put windows with hardware cloth in. This should give them plenty of air flow but how do I encourage them to start going back in at night? One of them did on her own last night…. Do you think the rest may decide to follow her? Do I just need to keep putting them in myself for a while? When they first started sleeping in their coop full time I had a lamp in there to encourage them to go in at dusk.
Also… the run that the coop is in is chicken wire. I didn’t know better at first and will be building a new run with lumber and hardware cloth soon. In the meantime I’ve taken measures to keep predators from digging under… the run has withstood at least one attempted raccoon incursion from the top (my neighbors observed). But I still don’t feel like it’s safe for them to sleep outside their coop!
