CheepThrillsAcres
In the Brooder
- Dec 28, 2018
- 10
- 12
- 14
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:
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:
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