They choose to sleep outside...

[CheepThrillsAcres]

Greetings!

I have run across some unusual (to me) chicken behavior, my flock just will not sleep inside the coop.

My background. Originally from upstate New York (basically Canada), my childhood was spent on a small farm with cows that we boarded / raised / slaughtered, and chickens that we kept for food. Our chickens would roam the farm by day and return to the barn by night (especially during the winter -30F nights).
Fast-forward 30 years, I now live in Central Virginia, on a small 5-acre plot, on which I decided to keep chickens. I converted a kid play house into a coop, and fenced a 20x30x10 foot box around it all so no chickens can get out, and no nightmares can get in. During the day, they roam the big yard, but at dusk, they return to their cage/ coop, but they just sleep outside on the railing of the coop deck. I am not worried about them being eaten (Great Pyrenees roams the rest of the acres by night); I am more worried about them getting cold. At night in the winter, the temperatures can drop to 15F though it is usually in the 28 to 40F range. They show no signs of cold weather exposure; I just want to know that they have enough self-preservation to go in if they get too cold.

Flock Count 17: Mix of Orphington, Barred Rock, RIR, Americana, Silver Laced Wyandotte, and Svart Hona


Thank you for your help!

See the railing where they sleep in this picture:

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It could possibly be ventilation.
Chickens prefer fresh air. I wouldn't worry about those temperatures.
A friend of mine has a really nice coop her birds, like yours, only use for laying and food. They sleep on a roost in the predator proof run, year round. They've been doing that for years and it can get into the negative teens F.

 

[Shadrach]

Put them in the coop. Wait until dusk, or the moment they go to roost on the railing if you can and put them on the roost bar.
The cold isn't the problem. The mesh outside is. That mesh won't stop a weasel, or a mink and I can't see in the picture any protection from aerial predators.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Don't they get frostbite?

No.
An unheated, uninsulated building is just as cold as it is outside by morning. The advantage of outside is lower humidity and no buildup of ammonia, dust, bacteria, virus, fungus - and humidity.
The humidity is what usually causes the frostbite.
Tiny birds like wrens, sparrows, finches, etc. sleep in trees with no heat. I don't know why a chicken with more feathers would need heat or protection of a building.
Some birds like ptarmigan live north of the arctic circle in the snow. They don't live in coops either.

 

[PirateGirl]

I think the bigger question is WHY aren't they roosting in the coop.

You said you have 30 ft. of perches. How many chickens do you have? Are all the perches the same height? How far is the perch from the coop wall, floor, ceiling? How wide, or what is the diameter of the perch? What is the perch made of?

Have you checked your coop/birds for evidence of mites? Mice? anything else that might be disturbing to the birds?

 

[Mach 1 Padilla]

The healthiest rooster I ever had always slept outside in the same tree, winter/rain/storm and he was fine. But the disadvantage of that is predators which after about 2 years his luck ran out and got eaten.

There may be others but ive found 2 reasons why some chickens (not roosters) wont sleep inside the coop. Mites or too much poop and they don't like the smell of ammonia.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The healthiest rooster I ever had always slept outside in the same tree, winter/rain/storm and he was fine. But the disadvantage of that is predators which after about 2 years his luck ran out and got eaten.

There may be others but ive found 2 reasons why some chickens (not roosters) wont sleep inside the coop. Mites or too much poop and they don't like the smell of ammonia.

X2
Another reason they choose to begin sleeping in trees is when a predator gets in and eats their friends. Then they associate the coop/roost with danger.
It is always my fault. If I don't make it home in time to lock up at dusk and a predator (usually raccoon) gets in and kills a bird, the others somehow escape and end up roosting in brush, on a fence, on the building whatever. It takes a long time to get them to sleep inside again.

 

[Shadowfire]

Can you post some pictures of the coop? Where do they tend to roost?

 

[PirateGirl]

One more question... have they ever slept in this coop? Is it that your chickens used to sleep in this coop and recently have stopped, or is it that they've never really roosted in this particular coop?

 

[SueT]

If the inside roosts are 2x4s on edge, they may not like that...too skinny for comfort? Mine avoided a skinny 2" branch roost, I had to change it. Now mine have 2x4s flat. Try turning them flat.