Roosting in the run

[yoyopops]

I have a question I am hoping that your experience can give me a idea of what to do. My wife and I are raising 6 RRR's and they are doing great, they are about 7 months old and are fully feathered. With winter coming (we live in Colorado) i have a concern that the girls are roosting out side in the run instead of in the coop. The run is fully secure with hardware cloth all around and I have also put up covers to fully inclose them when the weather gets nasty. But my feeling is that when the weather gets really cold (like 20 degrees or less they they should be in the coop so they can share body heat. I am thinking that I will take down the roost in the run at night to force them to go inside where I can close them in for the cold nights. There are roosts in the coop and they have stayed in there when they first were put outside, but this past summer they have gotten used to staying outside in the run. Please let me know what you guys think and maybe some suggestions as to how to get them back in the coop for the winter.

 

[sourland]

It would be a good idea to get them roosting in the coop prior to winter. Removing the outside roost will probably get the job done.

 

[yoyopops]

awesome thank you for the suggestion I will try it today and see if they will return to the coop for the night

 

[Ridgerunner]

If that fails, just move them in the coop and leave them locked in there at night. They should catch on fairly fast with no roost in the run.

 

[sourland]

They will most likely complain and carry on for several nights - chickens hate change. Initially you may have to 'herd them' into the coop and lock them in over night - not a bad idea under any circumstances. Predators will be amping up their activities in preparation for winter.

 

[yoyopops]

I will try to get them in starting tonight to get them used to it before it gets really cold. the run is very secure so no danger of preditors just the weather is what I am worried about. Thanks for the great advice

 

[cafarmgirl]

Make sure there are not reasons why they don't want to go in the coop. Does it have plenty of light and ventilation? Is it big enough? Chickens don't naturally want to crawl into a small, dark space (except to lay an egg lol!) If there's plenty of natural light and room to roost then removing the outside roost should take care of your problem.

 

[aart]

I have a question I am hoping that your experience can give me a idea of what to do. My wife and I are raising 6 RRR's and they are doing great, they are about 7 months old and are fully feathered. With winter coming (we live in Colorado) i have a concern that the girls are roosting out side in the run instead of in the coop. The run is fully secure with hardware cloth all around and I have also put up covers to fully inclose them when the weather gets nasty. But my feeling is that when the weather gets really cold (like 20 degrees or less they they should be in the coop so they can share body heat. I am thinking that I will take down the roost in the run at night to force them to go inside where I can close them in for the cold nights. There are roosts in the coop and they have stayed in there when they first were put outside, but this past summer they have gotten used to staying outside in the run. Please let me know what you guys think and maybe some suggestions as to how to get them back in the coop for the winter.

They don't need to be fully enclosed, in fact they need lots of ventilation....in the coop and the run.
Just put up enough covers to block the worst of the prevailing wind in the run.

20F degrees is nothing to a fully feathered chicken, as long as they are dry and out of the wind.

Make sure there are not reasons why they don't want to go in the coop. Does it have plenty of light and ventilation? Is it big enough? Chickens don't naturally want to crawl into a small, dark space (except to lay an egg lol!) If there's plenty of natural light and room to roost then removing the outside roost should take care of your problem.

DITTO^^^^