[sheridan]

My girls have started to want to spend the night on top of their run (they have an interior run inside the main run), and not go into the coop. They seem perfectly happy, and healthy and I can see no signs of the dreaded mite in the coop (it was new last September). If they want to roost outside, is there any reason why they shouldn't? The main run is 8ft by 9ft and has a chicken wire roof, it is secure. are they just enjoying the mild weather? The only thing is that they now poo onto the roof of the interior run, which is a lot messier than emptying the coop!

[ManicMum]

Have they only just started roosting outside?  Have you changed anything in their inner or outer run that they are protesting about? Do they manage to lay in the nest boxes?

If you are happy that they are secure roosting outside, leaving you a mucky clean-up, then it's not a problem in summer.  However, if you keep lifting them in each night, I'm sure they'll accept it & be retrained quite quickly.