chickens going into coop at night

My babies took about a week.  I made sure to go out before dusk to feed them and give them treats inside of the coop.  Once they realized they get a special treat like oatmeal or live mealworms as a bedtime snack, they got with the program. Mine were about 8 weeks.

I put mine in the coop for 2 days letting them out just a few hours in the evening and on the 3rd day, they went to "bed" all by themselves....

It took mine two nights of putting them back into the coop at dusk.  Then two nights more of sitting on the coop floor before they realized they actually had a roost to sleep on at night. All is fine the hen house now!  

We have a similar problem with our flock, the Rocks will all hustle in before dusk but our 4 Silkies refuse to not only venture up the ramp but down it either. We are going to try making it longer this week as well as installing the treads rather than just using the boards that we used on the outside of the coop that are pre-sided so they already have grooves in them. I'm tired of putting the little ones up every night and then watching them huddling around at the door waiting for someone to come get them down in the morning.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonySorrento 

My birds only had their coop for the first week ... THEN I opened up the run for them ... they always have gone back to the coop to sleep .....

this is what i did as well :-)

I've done it both ways. The first time all I had was chicks so I was able to just lock them in for a couple days so they knew it was home.  They figured it out right away and I never had to put them to bed.   The other times I've had adult chickens that I didn't want to lock out of the coop so I couldn't do that. It's a bit annoying to collect them up and put them to bed for a few nights when they're under the coop and I have to crawl around a bit to get them, but they do eventually sort it out.  It never took more than a few days with mine.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by themenagerie 

I've done it both ways. The first time all I had was chicks so I was able to just lock them in for a couple days so they knew it was home.  They figured it out right away and I never had to put them to bed.   The other times I've had adult chickens that I didn't want to lock out of the coop so I couldn't do that. It's a bit annoying to collect them up and put them to bed for a few nights when they're under the coop and I have to crawl around a bit to get them, but they do eventually sort it out.  It never took more than a few days with mine.
 

I'm still collecting them every night, or at least my son is. I've seen the leader of the group of them go up the ramp now and just thru the opening but she won't go in and get settled. I don't know if it's because of the Rocks that are already in for the night or some other reason but she and one other will go all the way up and then turn around and go down every night. HELP I don't want to have to try and catch them every night.. thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kwerner77 

We have a similar problem with our flock, the Rocks will all hustle in before dusk but our 4 Silkies refuse to not only venture up the ramp but down it either. We are going to try making it longer this week as well as installing the treads rather than just using the boards that we used on the outside of the coop that are pre-sided so they already have grooves in them. I'm tired of putting the little ones up every night and then watching them huddling around at the door waiting for someone to come get them down in the morning.

My newest addition to the flock, a 15 wk partridge silkie, has the same problem.  Everyone else would be in the coop and she would be standing under the coop clucking loudly.  My cockerel, Oreo, would come out and try to encourage her to go up the ramp and into the coop...no dice.  I finally decided that I would try to show her out to go up the ramp.  I figured,well, some chickens are brighter than others."  Poor thing, after a few tries she got it.  Oreo is very good about escorting her into the coop in the evening.  I have read that silkies have a tough time with ramps.