I have 3 chicks that are 4 months old who have never been in the coop and roost high up in a tree which is rapidly loosing its leaves - we have already had a few below 0C nights with frost on the ground - they have been fine so far - their mum and the rest of the gang (5 in total) sleep in their coop at night (in fact the mum is sitting on another pile of eggs - once they hatch i will bring them in). We have 2 roosters and i wondered if that was why the chicks have never gone in the coop.
Does anyone have any advice on what i should do about this - sometimes we get -20C and pretty sure we will have snow at some point - and there is a possibility that i wont be around when this happens - i have a camera on the coop and automatic water (with a heater) and feeding systems and someone to check on them if necessary. They also have a large polytunnel to go in during the day. They are completely free ranging in a well fenced large area.
They are 2 Barred Plymouth Rocks and one hybrid cross plymouth rock.
I cannot get them from the tree at night as it is way too high - i have bought a new coop and am trying to entice them into it with food etc but no luck so far - its only been a couple of days (the other chickens do not go into the new coop).
Anyway advice much appreciated - i am worried these chicks will freeze to death if the temperature drops a lot! Thank you
Does anyone have any advice on what i should do about this - sometimes we get -20C and pretty sure we will have snow at some point - and there is a possibility that i wont be around when this happens - i have a camera on the coop and automatic water (with a heater) and feeding systems and someone to check on them if necessary. They also have a large polytunnel to go in during the day. They are completely free ranging in a well fenced large area.
They are 2 Barred Plymouth Rocks and one hybrid cross plymouth rock.
I cannot get them from the tree at night as it is way too high - i have bought a new coop and am trying to entice them into it with food etc but no luck so far - its only been a couple of days (the other chickens do not go into the new coop).
Anyway advice much appreciated - i am worried these chicks will freeze to death if the temperature drops a lot! Thank you