Sleeping Outside/Inside Coop

[cmom]

I live in Florida. During the hot summers sometimes the birds sleep outside on top of the rain/shade tables in my pens even though the coops have plenty of ventilation. I don't worry about them because my pens are covered for protection from aerial predators. Usually when the weather cools off they will go into their coops onto their roosts. I leave the coops pops doors open so they can go in and out at will. All of my coops have night lights too. As long as your coop and run are predator proof they are ok. Good luck and have fun...

 

[U_Stormcrow]

^^^ that's a great looking coop, @cmom !

 

[cmom]

There are several coops there. They all have vents that I can shut if I need to but still have air flow.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

There are several coops there. They all have vents that I can shut if I need to but still have air flow.
View attachment 2392718

WOW. That's "a few" more coops than I need at present. Hoping Chicken Math never takes hold of me in quite that fashion.

 

[barbiehicks]

Hello - Live in Phoenix AZ. We got 5 young hens in April 2020 (first-time layers) and they all happily marched into the coop to sleep at night. It was still relatively cool then. As the months went on and got very hot here (as it does), they all opted to sleep outside on an outdoor roosting post inside the completely fenced-in run. Happily, they all survived the near 120 degree heat with the help of a misting system and multiple trays of water for them to stand in. The nights are starting to get cooler now and they are still sleeping outside (that section of the run is covered with a tarp).

There are 2 identical coops in the run. You can see one in the photo behind me to my left and the outdoor perch is to my right.

I'm hoping that they will instinctively remember the coop is a warmer place to go as the nights get chilly. Or will I have to physically put them in the coop at night to get them used to it again...?

Thoughts appreciated.

PS - They are 2 Barred Rocks, 1 Black Maran and 2 Rhode Island Reds.

Hi there! I am also in Arizona (Yuma) and have chickens that don't sleep in their coop.. They sleep just fine on a roost in the run. My yard is pretty secure. How did you handle the mess from straw/dirt/pine shavings with the misters?

 

[Borders3]

Just a thought but as the flock have all bonded they will stay together and not want to split into two groups to go to bed at night. Maybe you should be either getting a bigger single coop so they can all fit in or fixing the 2 coops together to make 1 larger coop.