Serama coop and run

[bkr0505]

Hi,

I hatched Seramas that are about 21/2 months old. I recently built a run that has a chicken coop in it .The black fluff balls are under coop. They will not go in the coop only long enough to eat. They sleep outside the coop at night and although the run is enclosed I worry. I live in the Northeast and know that when the weather gets colder they cannot with stand the colder temperatures unless they start going in coop at night. Has anyone experienced this and any suggestion on what I should do?

 

[bhawk-23]

Hello! I am extremely new to Seramas, about 1 month now, but our older ones are 12-14 weeks we think. I cannot see the roof, do you have one? Mine are great flyers! They have perched under the over hang of our roof at night and we had to retrieve them and set inside the coop.

As far as training them to roost inside the coop at night we locked them inside for about 1 week. Then, we allowed them free range in the evening so they would not go far. We had to retrieve them a few times from higher roosts they would find but they now go to the coop. Just took some training and patience. Good luck!

 

[bkr0505]

Hello! I am extremely new to Seramas, about 1 month now, but our older ones are 12-14 weeks we think. I cannot see the roof, do you have one? Mine are great flyers! They have perched under the over hang of our roof at night and we had to retrieve them and set inside the coop.

As far as training them to roost inside the coop at night we locked them inside for about 1 week. Then, we allowed them free range in the evening so they would not go far. We had to retrieve them a few times from higher roosts they would find but they now go to the coop. Just took some training and patience. Good luck!

It does have a full tarp roof over run and coop. I will try your suggestion of keeping them in the coop for a week. They almost act afraid of it so I put a night light in it hoping that would make them feel safer. (What we don't do for our chickens.LOL)

 

[bhawk-23]

It does have a full tarp roof over run and coop. I will try your suggestion of keeping them in the coop for a week. They almost act afraid of it so I put a night light in it hoping that would make them feel safer. (What we don't do for our chickens.LOL)

With our first set of chickens, full sized, they were really nervous to enter the coop in the evening. We didn't understand why until we realized that when they were locked in it for the first couple weeks they had a heat lamp. We had to turn it on in the evening and then off when we locked up. Eventually that stopped. But it definitely was the issue so maybe a light is good but be sure to turn it off at night to keep it dark.

 

[bkr0505]

With our first set of chickens, full sized, they were really nervous to enter the coop in the evening. We didn't understand why until we realized that when they were locked in it for the first couple weeks they had a heat lamp. We had to turn it on in the evening and then off when we locked up. Eventually that stopped. But it definitely was the issue so maybe a light is good but be sure to turn it off at night to keep it dark.

Thank you.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hard to tell from photo - how much light and ventilation is there inside the coop? Lack of either (or both) can make a coop unappealing to birds, so they end up roosting elsewhere.

 

[LostBoi73]

If they are cold they will go somewhere warmer eg inside. They wont kill themselves just to stay outside. There would be no chickens if they were that stupid in the first place. I would check the coop for mites though as that can make them unwilling to go in

 

[bkr0505]

Hard to tell from photo - how much light and ventilation is there inside the coop? Lack of either (or both) can make a coop unappealing to birds, so they end up roosting elsewhere.

New coop from tractor supply has a side vent and front vent which are both open both measure about 3X3. Thanks for your input.

 

[bkr0505]

If they are cold they will go somewhere warmer eg inside. They wont kill themselves just to stay outside. There would be no chickens if they were that stupid in the first place. I would check the coop for mites though as that can make them unwilling to go in

The coop is new and I put earth on floor of coop under their bedding. Glad to hear they are not stupid enough to freeze . I put them in last night and they seemed comfortable on roost this morning. Thanks for input.

 

[aart]

I live in the Northeast

Hard to say if they will tolerate that kind of cold.

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