why are my chickens sleeping on the floor

[kristin67]

This is our first year with chickens which means our first winter having them. It has recently gotten very cold here in RI and I have noticed that since the cold set in my chickens are not on their roosting bars at night. They are now all together on the floor of the coop. They don't seem ill or stressed or anything they just seem to want to be on the floor .. is this normal ?

 

[Poultry parent]

chickens prefer to sleep on a roost. did you check to see if there's a draft? if there is one that would explain the sleeping on the floor

 

[Ridgerunner]

How is your coop set up? Is there a breeze blowing across the roost? Chickens don’t like a cold breeze. Maybe they found a place on the floor that’s more comfortable to them. As long as it’s not your nests I don’t see it to be a big deal. If you tell us about your coop and maybe post photos we can comment more intelligently but on the face of it I’m not concerned about what you said. I’m a little surprised they went to the floor instead of the nests, the nests ae usually where they go to get out of the wind hitting them on the roosts. Sounds like you got lucky.

People tend to think that chickens are idiotic robots that all behave the same way and are helpless. They are actually pretty good at managing themselves if given some options.

 

[kristin67]

Well its funny you say that because it started happening the night we covered up the drafty window in the coop. Now they gather by the door and sit there

 

[Poultry parent]

it could be that its just warmest there

 

[Ridgerunner]

That is funny. My chicken’s favorite roosting spot is by the window, maybe they like to look outside? If you changed their scenery maybe they got miffed and said “I’ll just sleep on the floor.” They’re not petulant teenagers are they?

Or did you cover it with something that blows in the wind so the movement frightens them? It’s hard to say why chickens do what they do but they can be fun to observe.

 

[aart]

Well its funny you say that because it started happening the night we covered up the drafty window in the coop. Now they gather by the door and sit there

They might be frightened of what ever you put up, whether it moves or not, chickens don't like new stuff.
...and/or they might be missing the flow of fresh air?
Might be just take some time for them to get used to it.