How do you get free-range chickens to go in before dark?

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boxermizer

boxermizer

Songster
7 Years
Aug 4, 2016
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We have no problem when it's almost dark, they put themselves up, but occasionally we'd like to leave the house before dark and continue to be gone after dark. Chasing them for a half hour has gotten old real quick, and today we weren't successful after that much time. One experience with letting them go ended up with a missing duck (we actually have chickens, guineas and ducks). They used to do real well when they heard the frozen peas or saw the container of scratch, but a couple are getting stubborn.
 
A run may be worth considering. That way, if you are going to leave them, you can confine them to the run for that day. An automatic pop door to the coop would also be something you may wish to consider.
 
Chasing chickens is good exercise. It accomplishes nothing further. People don't realize how easy it is to train chickens to come to them. It's quicker and easier than training a dog. You can accomplish it in just one day. Even minutes!

Get a container and fill part way with scratch grain. Stand inside the run and shake the container. Pick a verbal cue and use it when you shake the container. When your chickens show some interest in the sound of the grain rattling in the container, toss some grain onto the ground inside the run. The chickens are now all inside, or will be soon. Shut the gate. You have them.

Next day, repeat. The chickens will be inside the run so fast, you won't believe it.

But you'll need to find some other way to get your daily exercise.
 
We have a run. This particular day my husband was adding a nesting box to the coop, so keeping them locked in the run was not possible. However, that is an idea for the future.

As for shaking a can of scratch, I did that. However, they were a long way from their run/coop (they wouldn't have heard me). Most of them went in fairly easily, it was just 2 that were giving me fits. I even had one of them (our most friendly, easiest to pick up chicken) eating out of the container in my hand, but if I tried to pick her up or lure her to the run with the container of scratch, she ran as fast as she could from me. On another page several people suggested mealworms, cooked spaghetti, sunflower seeds and a few others, so I'm going to see if I can increase their interest in treats by changing things up to see if that helps.
 
You train them to come when called. Every time you go out to give them a treat, you use a verbal cue (whatever you want it to be). That verbal cue becomes strongly associated with goodies. After a few weeks, all you have to do is use the cue and they come running to see what treat you have for them. Chickens are very food motivated and easily trained.
 
I recently found out that getting rid of my guineas immediately solved the problem. My chickens now flock to me like I'm the food and I can get every single one of them to come to the pen any time of day. I can't believe how long it took me to figure out what the problem might be and how easy it was solved.
 
My chickens respond very well to 3 different cues. It works even if they've only been out a short while and just got comfy in their chosen spot for the hour.
They've been taught "GO!" as an alarm.
They know the sound of shaken treats.
They know other words such as yumyums, pretty birds, come on (name), and good girls.
If needed due to their distance, I'll go closer and call and shake treats. Once have got them going all it takes for the stragglers is waving ( or flapping) and the go cry. They get some treats in coop before is closed.
 
Perris said:
you've had that problem for 4 years?!?
Click to expand...
Sad to say, close to it. I had read about raising chickens, ducks and guineas together, but no one seems to have the trouble with guineas that I've had. As a matter of fact, I gave 2 guineas to a friend who had a couple guineas already and they've had zero problems with them. And for quite some time all the birds I had had been purchased as day-old chicks on the same day. I did realize they were the problem quite some time ago, but only recently decided I was done with them and found new homes for them.
 
Boonie Stomper said:
My chickens respond very well to 3 different cues.
Click to expand...
I had tried all the things. And all the things work - WITHOUT any guineas. They are so happy and calm and I have better egg production than with the guineas and things just seemed to get worse and worse. To where the guineas were chasing all the hens off the roost at night.
 

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