two room coop

[kesali]

My coop is two rooms, each about 4' x 8' for 14 chix. There is an interior wall between them with an adequate opening. The roosts are in the further room and so are the nest boxes. They lay eggs in this room, but refuse to go in there for any other purpose and sleep on the floor in the first room. I have a 1'x2' window in the exterior wall of the first room and a much smaller window in the other room. Is the larger window causing the problem and keeping them in the first room? Then again, our weather is getting colder with nights nights into the 'teens. Maybe they are better off huddled together in the first room at night instead of spread between the two rooms?

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

How high is your coop, how high is your roost, and how old are your hens?

I have a 3 level roost bar that they use to hop up to the 4 ft high roosting shelf. My 5 pullets were about 9 weeks old when they started using the shelf (to get away from the older 10 pullets). The older 10 puppy piled for about 2 weeks before they decided that the shelf was a good idea too. My older 10 are now 6 months old, the younger 5 are 5 months. They all share the shelf now, with not much fussin.

 

[kesali]

The coop is about 3' off the ground with a walkway up to it. The roosts are 1' and 3' high with a ladder they can use. I am thinking the window in the first room keeps them there because it makes the room lighter. Also, they can see out easily in case I am coming with treats.

 

[Woodcox Acre]

Is there no windows in the other side, maybe you'll have to make the opening bigger to intise them

 

[The Old Whittler]

I had a similar experience when I first built my coop. I only had a couple of small windows in the gable and my girls would wait too late before they would go to roost and by that time it was too dark for them to see inside the coop. I added two larger windows to give them more natural light and that fixed the problem.