Some chickens roost at night and some stay out

[deedeebird]

All of my chickens (10) were roosting in the roosting house. Now for the past week some chickens are not going in a night. I don't like leaving them out at night because of predators (I have a pretty secure area for the) but I live very rural with fox, weasels and the whole gambit of predators including mountain lions. For 3 nights I have been rounding up stray chickens who have not go into roosting and putting them in. Any suggestions?

 

[jak2002003]

Keep them all confined to the coop and run for a few weeks until they get into the habit of rooting in the coop.

Make sure there is enough roosting space in there - maybe add a few more roosts if needed. They might be roosting outside to avoid fighting for sleeping areas.

 

[deedeebird]

Thank you I will try to get another roost made for them. Now I am wondering if I am just a little to paranoid. The roost I will make this weekend..must it also be predator proof? my biggets fear is the mountain lions. They are so large that they can just hit chicken wire with their body and have it down. I can just imagine me waking up to screaming chickens and come face to face with a hungry cat. I have enclosed a picture of my coop with the exception of the roosting area. I have a large chicken trailer with a walk up ladder. Any suggestions on how to make a small roost and inexpensive? I have spare wood here and can put my grandsons to work this weekend for me.Sorry I tried putting on attachment but don't have the permission. The chicken trailer or roosting area is in a large chicken run made of chicken wire and framed with wood. The roof is also covered with left over horse fencing I have so that they cannot get killed by night birds and hawks.