Roosting outdoors

[FlewTheCoop]

Hi! Just a newbie question... My four pullets and once cockerel don't like to return to their coop at night. Their pen is entirely enclosed (top, too), within a fenced in back yard, so we aren't overly concerned about predation. However, I thought chickens naturally returned to the coop at night. It's summer in Mississippi...quite warm, and they have been sleeping all night on their outdoor roost. It's about four feet off the ground. I have checked on them off and on throughout the night, and they've definitely been staying out.

They are about three 1/2 months old.

Is this ok? Should I be encouraging them indoors at night? Their coop door is open for them, so they can go in and out at will.

Thanks.

 

[crait]

My chickens do exactly the same thing. They roost right by the window so my rooster will wake us up..

Mine's fine. You just have to worry about predation.
Most nights I try to put them into their coop. They sleep in there once I finally get them in there and I only have a few rare nights where they want to jump out and do their own thing.
They don't go back to the coop at night, they go to the same roost. So, they're going to go there every night. This is good for me because I always know where my chickens are whenever it starts getting dark outside and I don't have to round them up.

 

[FlewTheCoop]

Haha. Thanks! Well, as for predators, I think it'd have to be a pretty persistent booger to get into this pen. It's built like an aviary at the zoo. haha. I'm lucky I can get in there. Their outdoor roost is very near their coop anyway, and the whole establishment is very near our back door. So I think they'll be ok. Just as long as this is "normal" behavior that I don't necessarily have to curb. haha. I thought maybe I'd done something wrong.

Thanks for replying!

 

[wildorchid053]

hi.. i am new to the chicken stuff.. but have a few questions...we have 8 chicks .. as a gift ....and we are building the coop and run as we speak.. if i have a rooster or two.. should i seperate them from the hens.. and if i want a baby or two.. do hens stop laying eggs while they take care of their chicks..also if the roo is with the hens are the eggs eatable?

 

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
Well first of all, If you want to have a baby or two, you should speak to your husband.
Second there is no need to seperate hens and roosters as you can eat fertilized eggs.
Thirdly hens usually stop laying while they are sitting/brooding eggs.
Hope this helps.

 

[FlewTheCoop]

Yep, as long as you pick the eggs every day, you won't really be able to tell fertilized from unfertilized, and they are edible.

As far as I know, you don't need to separate roos from hens unless you are trying to control breeding for some reason.

If you want babies, wait until you have a hen who doesn't seem to want to leave her eggs (broody). Let her set. Voila. Or you can take some eggs and get an incubator and try it that way.

 

[Mydnight]

Quote:
Well first of all, If you want to have a baby or two, you should speak to your husband.

 

[dowdschicks]

Ok back to the subject of chickens roosting outside at night...

As far as I can tell, my chickens actually sleep in their nesting boxes. Or at least thats where they start their evening and maybe move to thier roosts later on?

Now, one of my hens actually started roosting in a tree! The weather is very warm here and I dont see any problem with it as she goes pretty high up there! But it's pretty funny. She's actually always been kinda a loner.