Roosting issues

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Welcome. I do not have this issue because I am a nervous chicken mom and I herd my chickens and put them in about 30 to 45-minutes before they would do so themselves. I don't like the "blue hour" and "dust" times. I have 3 that sleep inside every night - my disabled chickens. I have 1 roo and 3 hens in one coop and run, two silkies in their own coop and run. Two roosters in their own coops and runs, and in the main coop and run are 15 hens. These hens have a 19x8 coop that is 8 feet high. They have 52 feet of roosting space. I find it interesting that pecking order does not determine which bars they choose - meaning the higher ones. I do find that I run into the same issues with roosting space as the nesting boxes - in other words, you can have 50 nesting boxes and everyone wants the same two.
 
You now have 23 chickens. They need about 4 sq ft each in the coop. 23x4 = 69 sq. Ft. That's how big your coop needs to be to accommodate this many chickens. So basically at least 7x10 ft. Standard measurements are 8x10. Is your coop this big? Each chicken needs about a foot of roost space and the roosts need to be about a foot away from the wall. Do you have 23 feet of roost? If you're using ladder style roosts, are they sloped enough so nobody gets pooped on from above? Are they far enough apart so that chickens higher up can't peck lower chickens?

If these problems are not resolved, your chickens are sleeping outside because they do not have room inside, are not comfortable inside, or do not feel safe inside. Resolve these issues and then take your "campers" inside after dark. They will stay, partly because they can't see to do otherwise. And when they feel safe and comfortable, they will roost inside of their own accord.
 

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