What should we do differently? Have our fist dead chicken.

[Kiki]

We changed the roosting area to a bar and opened up the coop.

Fantastic!

The only problem I see is if the wind were to blow directly on them at night with that large open door.

 

[Kiki]

We changed the roosting area to a bar and opened up the coop.

Can you move the roost bar to the other side?

 

[murrychicken]

Fantastic!

The only problem I see is if the wind were to blow directly on them at night with that large open door.

Are they smart enough to move to one side or the other of the door?

 

[Joev1973]

Carry the stubborn birds to bed every night for a week. They will get the idea and go themselves.afyer moving some of my flock to a new coop I had 2 birds that were staying out at night so i put them on the roost for 2 nights. The 3rd night they went on their own

 

[Kellow1]

I see a lot of gaps where drafts can get in. Also, I don't see any roost bars. These should be made of 2X4s with wide side up. Don't keep food and water inside the coop as this encourages rodents, and causes moisture to form. There needs to be windows on all four sides of the hen house itself, to allow summer heat to escape. Cover all openings with hardware cloth to protect from predators. The run should also be protected with hardware cloth as most predators can tear through just about anything else. I can't tell from your pictures but it does look like you have some smaller wire over the larger wire. Is the floor area of the run concrete?

 

[Kellow1]

Oh wow that is some good information. I was thinking that the right side needed some protection and you just told me what to buy and how to attach it. Thank you!

If you do consider putting a light inside, don't put it in the coop, put it in the run above the steps. Lights can disturb a chicken's sleep!

 

[murrychicken]

I see a lot of gaps where drafts can get in. Also, I don't see any roost bars. These should be made of 2X4s with wide side up. Don't keep food and water inside the coop as this encourages rodents, and causes moisture to form. There needs to be windows on all four sides of the hen house itself, to allow summer heat to escape. Cover all openings with hardware cloth to protect from predators. The run should also be protected with hardware cloth as most predators can tear through just about anything else. I can't tell from your pictures but it does look like you have some smaller wire over the larger wire. Is the floor area of the run concrete?

We put in a new roosting bar today 2x4 with the flat side to sit on. Put it up top the length of it. Floor is concrete. All wire has a second layer of hardware cloth. Thank you!

 

[murrychicken]

Carry the stubborn birds to bed every night for a week. They will get the idea and go themselves.afyer moving some of my flock to a new coop I had 2 birds that were staying out at night so i put them on the roost for 2 nights. The 3rd night they went on their own

Will do this thank you!

 

[sciencegrrrrl]

You might have to show them that "up" is where they have to go when it's time for bed. I had to do that with my first chickens in a chicken tractor. Once the sun starts going down, "chicken batteries" start losing power and they will sometimes just fall asleep wherever and if they can't see what's up there then a nightlight is a great idea. Mine will fall asleep on roosts in the run but we have too many predators to let them stay out of the coop even in nice weather.

 

[Malamute1]

We are new and have our first dead chicken. Chickens won’t go up to the top, warm, dry area and are roosting on the steps. Have a lot of wind here. This week is our first cold snap. What should we do? Ps-our 11 year old bought the chickens and is so upset.

They need perches to roost on at night. My husband bought shovel or mop handles cheap.which ever are the largest diameter. We cut them to fit from wall to wall across the coop and screwed them right into coop walls. Also does your coop have a door? You may need to put them up for the night n close the door. It may take anywhere for 3 days to a week to train them to go up at night. Once they all go up by themselves for a couple nights you won't have to close the door. By the third night all but a couple of mine were up by the time I went out. By 5th night all the girls went up to bed. I think I closed the door 2 more nights after that. Once they were old enough we would leave the run door open so they could free range during the day. There again it took about a week to train them to go in at night. So sorry you lost one. Good luck with the rest.