wandering chickens

[new chix farmer]

I am a new chicken farmer with 21 layers. We are having a hot hot dry summer here and my chickens will not go into the coop at all. They live in the trees and around the yard. Their food and water is in the coop and they go in for that, but the rest of the day and night the are out, refusing to lay eggs or use the coop. Any suggestions? thanks

 

[silkiechicken]

Keep your coop cooler as I bet it is unconfortably hot in there. Once it is cooler they may go in more. To get them to lay in there you have to coop them up for a few days and drop golf balls into the nests as examples. Better get them to sleep inside at night too before something eats up all your birds for their bad habit. Catch them and put them in the coop every night or keep them in for a week so they learn that is home.