why are my chickens sleeping outside??????

[nicole1402]

i have 4 new chickens, ive had them for just over a week.
i had chickens before, but these chickens wont sleep in the coop!
they go in to lay but at night they cuddle together on the roosting bar outside.
they have a roosting bar inside where my last chickens slept.
i was thinking that maybe it was because when i got the new chickens i had one older chicken, who didnt like the new ones and pecked at the them.
For the first few days we put them in the coop at night with the old chicken, maybe they were scared and dont want to go back in?
i dont really know what to do? or if its even a problem, i just dont want them to be cold!
solutions anyone?? please and thank you.

Nicole

 

[NJChicken]

Any exterior roosting bar will resort in your chickens using it as an evening roost as opposed to going inside the coop. Remove the external roosting bar or cover with a tarp at night so they go inside. Better safe than sorry. We had the same problem with our this Spring. Once we covered the external roosts they went back to sleeping inside.

 

[sharol]

Can you put a light in there? It may be lighter outside (it has been nearly full moon the last week), so they would prefer to stay where there was light. I use a solar light, put it in an hour or so before dusk, and then put it back out in the morning to recharge the battery. Works with my girls like a charm.

 

[nicole1402]

thanks guys, i will try all your suggestions!

 

[colebarnhart]

Mine did the same thing, until I put a light inside the coop at night. Now all but two go into the coop, the other two I added a few weeks later and thought they were two small to get up the ramp, so they would just wait for me every night to go grab them and put them inside. It may be a pecking order type thing, not sure, because they are big enough now and I think I'm just an enabler at this point and/or it's just become a habit for all of us. But they're still my cute little yin and yang B-ROCK girls (one is dark and one is real light). So if you haven't already done so, try the light trick and see if that works.

 

[kscottjoyce]

I have the same problem. Two older hens go in the coop at night and two "teens" just want to stay perched on the branches of a very overgrown bush in my yard. I have been waiting till it is dark and it is easy to pick them up and put them in the coop. I am also going to try the light idea. I wish I could tell them that staying out all night is a really good way of letting predators find them.

 

[Player Hater]

you might try putting them inside and closing them in for a few nights

 

[kscottjoyce]

How cold does it get at night where you live? I have been putting my "teen" in the coop at night for about three weeks and they still want to sleep in the bush.

 

[Frza]

I'm having the same problem! They free range during the day and head back into the run at night. They go into the coop, look around, but decide to roost outside. I pick them up and place them on the inside roost every night, it's getting to be a pain.

This is the same coop they have been living in for the past year, why the sudden change to outdoor sleeping?

I appreciate the tips listed, I will try the light trick and see if that helps.

 

[ECBW]

Why is it a problem that they sleep in the run? I have roosts in both coop and run. My birds incidentally roost in the coop, but some of them slept on the floor sometimes. As long as they wake up happy, why rock the boat. The only place they are forbidden to sleep in are the nests.

Your birds are laying in the nests, so why worry. I would say worry about cold weather when it comes. Who knows, they may change habits in next 6 months.