Roosting outside the coop, should I worry?

[Dlm2plus]

I have a flock of 5, one each gold laced cochin, RIR, and Dominique and 2 Crele old English game bantams. My 2 OEGs have taken to roosting on top of the coop at night instead of going inside. Nights here are bordering on freezing so should I worry? They are inside the run so still pretty secure but we are just starting winter and it looks like its going to be a really wet one so wondering if I need to worry about them getting sick.

 

[nuthatched]

Is your coop big enough and well ventilated? Have you checked for mites?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Photos of the coop would help.

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC. If you put your general location into your profile we can give better-targeted advice. Climate matters.

Is your coop big enough and well ventilated? Have you checked for mites?

This.

If you provide photos of your setup and dimensions of the coop and available roost we can help you sort this out.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

How high off the ground are your roost bars within your coop? Sounds like they're going for a higher point. Can you put a light in the coop to encourage them in for roosting, then shut it off after they're locked up? Agree that more info. is helpful as it's hard to tell whether they've outgrown a small coop or you just need to make a few adjustments....

 

[Dlm2plus]

Coop is 6x2.5 with 6 inch vents front, rear, and right side top. Pic is before I added 2 more roost bars that are higher up. They have been sleeping in the coop all summer with night temps in the 70s so not sure why they are doing this now when we are getting into winter. Note..these two were late starting to lay and only started a few weeks ago, would that make them do this?

 

[SandyRiverChick]

It's a great start. Maybe they're having a hard time jumping up to roost bar inside with only 2.5 ? They need an angle for jump/flying as opposed to hopping straight up so you might have to do a ladder for walking to roost bar if they can't jump. Where is the roost bar you added? Is it high enough? The ventilation looks good but is it directly in their faces when they're on the roost bar or is it overhead? 6 inches is alot more than I do but alot of people believe in massive ventilation so I won't call that a problem..... It may just be that you have to try to block off the space between roof and run roof. It's cute!!

 

[Mrs. K]

Pretty tight quarters for 5 full size chickens, so it is good having two of the birds be bantams. The bantams may be being bullied out by the bigger birds. Sometimes full size birds do not mix well with bantam birds.

People often think that being raised together will overcome this, but it really does not have any affect on adult chicken behavior. Bigger birds win, and are much higher in the pecking order.

I think I would suggest, a second similar coop, for the bantams. If you put them in it a couple of times, I think they will go there at night instead of perching outside.

Mrs K

 

[3KillerBs]

In addition to what @Mrs. K said, those roosts look small and thin. Small, thin roosts can be uncomfortable for the chickens to perch on.

The usual suggestion for roosts is to use a 2x4 (different people suggest wide or narrow side up), or a natural branch about the same size as a 2x4.

Also, if that coop is only 2.5 feet deep there may not be enough room front to back for the chickens to be comfortable.

As a general rule, the space allotted for one chicken to roost in is 1 foot of 2x4 that is 1 foot away from the back wall and as far from the front wall as the roost is high because they fly up and down at about a 45-degree angle.

 

[Mrs. K]

In addition to what @Mrs. K said, those roosts look small and thin. Small, thin roosts can be uncomfortable for the chickens to perch on.

I thought about this too, but it is the smaller birds that are out, so the bigger birds are roosting on these.

I think those roosts would work better for a smaller bird, so I think there is bullying pushing the little birds out. Really I think this would be an ideal coop for bantam breeds. I do not think it is wide enough for the full size birds to be comfortable in that tight of space.

To the OP - I think that you may start seeing other ugly behaviors if you force those birds into that coop.

Mrs K