Why won't my chickens come out?

[Wynette]

They've been in the coop for 2 full days now. Yesterday, it got up to 35...I thought for SURE they'd come out, but there were no chicken footprints in the 1/2" of snow, and none of the kale I put in their suet feeder had been touched; and they LOVE their kale!

When I leave for work, it's dark; when I get home, it's dark. I have a light in the coop and I do check on them each morning & evening, and everyone looks fine; they look happy & content in the coop. But they need fresh air & exercise! Should I boot them out?

I also haven't had an egg since Friday. Wonder if no exercise/fresh air is part of the cause? I do not leave a light on in the coop, and knew they'd slow down, but didn't think they'd stop completely. Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[jenichick]

Maybe they feel safe and warm and cozy inside. I would put them out if I were home with them for a little while. Depending on their age, they could get frozen toes etc, if on the ice too long.

 

[newdock]

My chickens spent a lot of time in the coop last winter. They were TERRIFIED of the snow. I learned that if I sprinkled a bit of straw over the snow that they would come out. A little bit of scratch as well eased the process.

Someone told me that chickens have poor depth perception and the snow makes it worse and freaks them out. I don't know how true that is, but putting some straw in the run helped.

I was going to cover the run this year, but alas, time has run out and there is already snow. I have more chickens now and my new leghorns don't seem scared by the snow at all so they go out and tramp it all down and make a mess of it and then the others will eventually come out too.

P.S. I leave my coop light on all day....it's so well insulated that it is very dark inside without the light.

 

[Freebie]

My chickens don't seem to mind the snow at all. It is still in the twenties and thirties here. And they have the entire barn as well, but I still see little chicken tracks in the snow. Last winter when it got real cold I did not let them out and turned on the heat lamp for them. But I would bring in a couple little scoops of snow and they would gobble it up like it was ice cream. I think it was in the Backyard Poultry magazine that I read that they really like to eat snow. I would not have believed it if I had not seen it with my own eyes.

 

[Wynette]

Interesting on eating snow! They've been out in the snow before; not sure what's going on now. I do have a good-sized area of pine shavings that fell out of my wheelbarrow last time I cleaned - maybe a 3'x4' patch - so they can scratch around in that outside. I put a small scoop of scratch out each morning for them, trying to entice them out.

I do have a feeder of layer pellets in the coop, as well as a heated waterer (with Avia charge 2000 in it). Maybe it's not the best idea to put feed in the coop? Nothing to entice them to come out!