Starting birds outside

[MMAATC]

So our birds have 90 percent of their feathers and we introduced them to their new coop for an hour Friday and three hours yesterday. It is raining today so they are staying in. Will they go in the coop at night or do I need to put them in? It does not have a door so they can run down the board and get back on the ground. If I put a light on the pin outside is that good enough? Are they smart enough to get out of the rain? What if they get wet?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They need to sleep somewhere a few nights to develop the habit. Easiest is to block them in for about 3 days/nights, then they'll put themselves to bed at dusk.
I don't think a light will help. Actually if the light is outside, in the pen, that will encourage them to stay outside.

I have some young birds out in the rain right now.
You don't want the combination of young, wet and cold but if it's warm enough, they'll be fine.

 

[MMAATC]

So block them off at night and open the door in the morning?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If you let them out at all, you'll likely have to physically put them in at night. If you lock them up for about 72 hours, they'll likely go in on their own.
They're creatures of habit.

 

[tsmith91]

I shut mine up in their coop for several days before letting them out of the morning and shutting them back up at night the first three days I had to put them back in the coop at dusk after that they started going in on their own