Poor roosting choice - okay for winter?

[HopefulHens]

Hi! Thanks in advance for your help and advice!

my coop and run are predator proof. We have an Omlet auto door. As you can see in the pictures, the chickens roost on top of the coop on the hardware cloth instead of IN the coop. This makes cleaning harder and sometimes they lay an egg up there and I can live with those things but my preference is they roost IN the coop. Will the hardware cloth freeze their feet in the cold winter? I am thinking of removing the hardware cloth and revising the roosts in the coop or blocking that top section all together? Any thoughts on my roosts in the coop - clearly they don’t like them very much. I am thinking of moving the Omlet door to the run so they can get access to the outdoor paddock and then leave the little coop door open. The paddock is hot wired and has goats and ponies so they are pretty safe out there during the day. Any advice is welcome!

 

[nuthatched]

Can you raise the roosts? It's their natural instinct to get as high as people to sleep, so if there's some place higher than the roosts, they'll sit there.

 

[SegiDream]

I would just hardware cloth off the top section to keep them out. That should inspire them to roost in the coop...

 

[rosemarythyme]

I would just hardware cloth off the top section to keep them out. That should inspire them to roost in the coop...

x2. Or even chicken wire, since you only need to keep the chickens out of that area while maintaining that nice ventilation you've got. I really see no benefit in keeping that space open access to chickens at all.

Obviously you'll want to clear out all the shavings up there first.

 

[SegiDream]

or put a door on it and use it for knick knack storage space

 

[3KillerBs]

Take the horizontal hardware cloth off and cut a triangle to block off the place they're sitting. Likewise at the other end.

Do not block it off with a solid panel because you need the ventilation.

Like this.

 

[mrtoren]

I'll echo what others have said: Close that space off. There's no reason for them to be up there and it could potentially endanger them (don't trust always chickens to know what's best for them).

I see you used 2x4's for the roosting bars inside the coop. Maybe they don't like them? While there are mixed opinions about the best roosting bars, and while people have had success with different options, I'd consider installing a 2x2 roosting bar. See if that is more comfortable and draws them inside.

 

[jthornton]

Only give them access to the areas you want them in. When my Cinnamon Queens were still pullets sometimes one would fly up to the rafters. I finally had to put up enough obstacles so they would not try to fly up there. I didn't have to put chicken wire just enough things to make flying up there a bad choice. If your coop is predator proof then chicken wire will work to contain the chickens in the areas you want them to be in.

JT

 

[HopefulHens]

Can you raise the roosts? It's their natural instinct to get as high as people to sleep, so if there's some place higher than the roosts, they'll sit there.

Hi! Thanks in advance for your help and advice!

my coop and run are predator proof. We have an Omlet auto door. As you can see in the pictures, the chickens roost on top of the coop on the hardware cloth instead of IN the coop. This makes cleaning harder and sometimes they lay an egg up there and I can live with those things but my preference is they roost IN the coop. Will the hardware cloth freeze their feet in the cold winter? I am thinking of removing the hardware cloth and revising the roosts in the coop or blocking that top section all together? Any thoughts on my roosts in the coop - clearly they don’t like them very much. I am thinking of moving the Omlet door to the run so they can get access to the outdoor paddock and then leave the little coop door open. The paddock is hot wired and has goats and ponies so they are pretty safe out there during the day. Any advice is welcome!

Thank you Everyone!! I am going to wire that space off and add in a higher roost of different material than the 2x4. We’ll see how it goes!!!

 

[HopefulHens]

or put a door on it and use it for knick knack storage space

Good idea but I need the ventilation!