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Thanks, I will give this a try. I have been going out just after dark to make sure they are all up. Most of them will go in but I have between 6 and 10 that just can't seem to get the picture. So I have to pick them up and set them on the ramp, in which they will scurry right on in. They just dont seem to get the notion of the ramp being a means into the coop. I think I might make my ramp wider because I have noticed that sometimes there are traffic jams on the ramp. One will stop half way up or at the top and then the pile up begins. This mostly occurs when they are going out of a morning. Just a few that like to stop and smell the roses if you will. LolFood, Glorious Food! Oh how they adore it!
Sorry, I couldn't help myself - LOL! Seriously, I was having the same problem with my 10 week olds that had just moved into their very spacious and beautiful coop - only they didn't go in at night. An older friend told me to condition them to a call like 'hey, chick, chick, chick" while rattling a can with scratch. And I knew they loved scrambled eggs (kind of cannibalistic but what can you do...) so I started calling them and placing pieces of egg on the ladder into the coop. Then, because the coop is large, I got inside and enticed them in with scrambled egg from the inside. It took two nights and had a few "outliers" that had to be picked up and put in but now - a week later - they come running when I call regardless of where they are. I also think putting them to bed too early is also a problem as they aren't really ready to settle down. So now I go out at dusk, call them into the coop and give them a treat. Works like a charm.