Hi all
Open to any ideas please?
I have kept chickens for at least 15 years. My set-up is that in non flu seasons, they roam the garden freely. However now they are in a 2 metre wide x 5 metre long and 3 metre high wire mesh enclosed run which I have also roofed with perspex. Three sides are meshed so plenty of fresh air. Within this run with their feeder and water hangers, i also constructed some roosting perches which they like to sit up on in the daytime. Also they have a large coop with nesting boxes and night time roosting bars. This also has a roof made of Onduline corrugated bitumen sheets.
My problem is that this latest flock, some of them decided that sleeping out at night on the coop roof is a great idea. The problem is that at night, they do most of their pooping and after a week or so the corrugated roof is heaving and summer months a maggot haven.
I have tried going down in the late evening and gently lifting them off and setting them onto the roosting bars with the others, but within a few hours, they are back out again toughing it out.
Yes I could just let it go, I was hoping that if we got a cold snap they might feel the need to roost inside, the only recent cold nights, they just huddled up together on the roof.
Any ideas, or am I stuck with a few "Bear Gryll's" chickens?
John