OK, here's a picture of the night cage. Its 2.4m x 1.2m, with 1m height. The roost is a water tank base and it has three 'rungs' each 3cm wide on the topmost surface with enough length for two birds each, gently curved on one side and stops abruptly on the other side. I have seen red mites in my worm farm so I'm not keen to have wooden ones. The roosts are just higher than the lawn mower catcher. I am in the process of getting a feeder and drinker for the side of the cage, I'll probably get the brand that Ediedioh recommends. For the time being their feeder is a tub on the floor and the drinker is the one hanging from the roof. They are sleeping huddled up on the floor between the mower catcher and the drinker.

They're probably not roosting on the roosts because it is metal-it would be mighty uncomfortable to roost on. You are much better off using wooden roosts [which you can still quite easily disinfect if need be-just scrub with hot water and bleach and allow to dry].

Hey Miaowzen, congrats on your little flock I hope they sort themselves out soon.
Can anyone tell me a good size for a night time coop for 6 large chickens, hubby said I could buy a new one cause I am having trouble keeping the one I have dry and am worried about the heat come summer, I have seen one that is 95cm x 88cm x 100cm high with the nest boxes attached to the outside would this be any good?

Thanks Ravyk, I'll try adding wood on top of the metal frame so that they roost on the wood instead, and if I get red mites I might just get some fresh wood rather than trying to disinfect.

Glad Edidioh mentioned to get all the damp stuff out pronto.My big chooks - eg Cochin, RI White - have laid OK in a mower catcher but the catchers probably vary a lot. If your is fairly low at the entrance it could be too small, and chooks stand up to lay an egg.

Vicky ......that sounds very , very small to me for 6 large birds.

Actually I agree, just made a "verandah" for my existing coop to try and keep out the rain and it was bigger than that, man those pics on eBay are so deceptive

Miaowzen, My chickens all happily roost on metal poles. I have no wood at all. We had a HUGE mite infestation last summer where the red mite parasite things lived in the wood perches and all in the wooden house. So now their house is an old tank. After that whole experience i don't think I'd be able to have wood in their house again

I do use sheets of thin wood,that we take down from the walls inside our house as we renovate, these are used at the bottom of the tank as a lining/floor - then straw on top, but as soon as the wood becomes soiled, it's replaced...(we have plenty of it ) very easy to clean .. because i just rake and change the straw every few days and then chuck the whole lot wood and all on a bonfire each week or so when it gets too yucky.

I'll try to take a pic of how our night house is, ANYWAY.. i have rambled on enough I'm just trying to say diff things work for various reasons, and there may not be one hard and fast rule your house looks very comfy, I'd give it a bit longer and see if they settle better in time.

Hi Vickie after reading about your mite troubles I removed all the wood from my coop. Besides the roost. I have used branches from gum trees though. I will be keeping a very good eye on them especially in summer.
I'm on a weeks holidays from work so I can't wait to be able to get out and get things planted. Its 1 degree outside at the moment but when I let the girls out of their coop into their run they demanded to be let out to free range. They are getting big now.

Yesterday we took on a huge new family..........5 geese, 6 ducks, 6 hens - so far everyone is managing to settle in quite well. The new ones are not very concerned about the others at all.
So good to have geese again
We have now doubled our hen populations as well. When they arrived yesterday one had laid and egg on the way and this morn there was a duck egg in the pen

They were someone elses pets and she wanted them to go to a home where they would not end up on the table - she has to move house after 25 yrs and cannot relocate with this many animals into a small rental - she was soooo upset. (and most of you will know that our chooks usually die from old age and that my meat must be anonymous )

Once more our place echo's with the call of geese

That must have eased the pain a little for that poor lady , narelleh. Quite a big addition to your family! How big is a goose egg? Can you use them like any other egg? Do they lay often like chooks or just when, as in the wild, they want to breed? And do ducks lay constantly?

Have to disagree Ravyk:

Metal = good
Wood = bad

All looks pretty good to me -- In fact the roosts look perfect. My guess is that in summer they'll use them -- in the meantime leave them be. Just either extend roof line out a bit to ensure materials stay completely dry, or replace with new bedding material and push back far enough that it's out of where water can fall.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions.

I put a few different sizes of wood on top of the metal structure and they rejected every one of them, so I think they are just not interested in roosting yet. For now, the metal is a bit cold so I'll wrap some of that non-slip rubber mat for holding rugs in place around each of the rungs. It should have some grip and keep those red mites at bay. The lady I bought the cage from said it was 2m so I bought a 2.4m tarp, turns out the tarp just fits, so there is no overhang, but I think it will be ok as it covers the whole area. It's stopped raining now and I've taken out the damp straw and will be going to a sawmill this afternoon to get sawdust instead.

I also replaced the lawnmower box as I didn't realize that chickens have to stand up to lay an egg. In that case it was just too small for them. I've replaced that with the lid of a plastic box at the bottom and a cardboard box on top with the bottom and one side cut out. I have no plans to go to a poultry supply store any time soon, so for a decoy egg I blew out the contents of that commercial one I had and then paper mâchéd some tissue paper all over it. I'll see how that goes, if they're still not comfortable using the nesting box my other idea was to use a plastic box with a bit of a curtain hanging from the ceiling around three sides. I can cut up the previous, non-waterproof tarp to use as a curtain. I'm trying to only use things I've already got, I'm rather into repurposing things that would have been thrown out. I'll see how it goes

Just checking.Am I right about chooks needing to stand up to lay? My girls have always managed in the mower catchers, so perhaps they only have to squat up a bit?

Yes, they stand. Mine manage perfectly well in a mower catcher -- even the big ones.

Hrm, mine looked a little too small to get into. Maybe it was a small mower. All they managed to do was poop on it.