Getting new teen hens in hen house at night???

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mysis6

mysis6

Hatching
Aug 1, 2015
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I have a wonderful laying hen named Rita. Rita & her coop mate was attacked by dogs & the mate was killed & Rita injured. For 2 days I cleaned & medicated her wounds and believe it or not she kept laying eggs. 3 days after the attack a friend (to ease my sorrow) gave my three teen hens. I was delighted!! Rita seemed so happy too as she treated them like a new mom w/babies. Buttttt she stopped laying. Thats not a problem for me because I figured as she got use to the new ones things would get back to normal.
The thing is I can't get the teens to go into the hen house at night. They roost in the bush thats in the chicken coop. It's getting cold at night so I want them inside the hen house. What should I do????
 
Hello!
400

Welcome to BYC and the coop! There's a lot of great peeps here! Feel free to ask lots of questions. But most of all, make yourself at home. I'm so glad you decided to joined the BYC family. I look forward to seeing you around BYC. I would wait until dusk and move the teen chickens into the coop. You may have yo do this several times. But hopefully, eventually they will learn the hen house is where the should go at night. Good luck with your girls. :)
 
Hello. Welcome to BYC! You have to show your new chickens their home by keeping them locked in it for a few days. At night I started feeding my chicken in the coop at night so it would teach the to go. I don't have to do that anymore. If I'm late feeding them at night they r already in the coop sleeping.

They will learn. It takes a little time. I am glad your Rita lived through the attack. I hope your teens settle in soon.
 
Thankfully you are not having integration issues. Your new birds are probably afraid of entering a dark coop. Sometimes having a small light on timer will draw them into the coop and they will roost. Once they are used to it, it should no longer be a problem. For now, I would physically put them inside and on the roost , then close the door.
They are much safer sleeping inside.

You have an exceptional hen,, that she kept on laying , and is welcoming to the new girls.
 
drumstick diva said:
Thankfully you are not having integration issues. Your new birds are probably afraid of entering a dark coop. Sometimes having a small light on timer will draw them into the coop and they will roost. Once they are used to it, it should no longer be a problem. For now, I would physically put them inside and on the roost , then close the door.
They are much safer sleeping inside.

You have an exceptional hen,, that she kept on laying , and is welcoming to the new girls.
Click to expand...
X2 on drumstick diva's advice. I had to add a regular light in my coop to get my flock to learn to enter the coop - so much easier than herding and placing them inside. We used a 40 watt bulb and a remote on/off power plug in so once they were in and roosting we could cut the light without entering the coop. They went in on their own the first night with the light. Used it for 3 days or so and after that they learned to go in.

So sorry about your losses, better luck in the future.
 

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