My chickens won't go into their coop at night.

iwiw60 said:

The use of artificial light in your coop at night in order to extend their laying isn't the way to do it. If you really feel the need to use a light in your coop you should likely have it on a timer that will turn on around 4 am in the morning and shut off around 9 am. All you want to do is to 'trick' them into thinking the sun has risen. Leaving artificial lights on during the night, which is their normal sleeping time, is what is contributing to their fighting.

As for the size of your coop, you have 6 large-breed girls, your coop is 5' x 6' which equals 30 sq.ft. Large breed girls (like I have) really need some elbow room, a minimum of 4-6 sq.ft. per bird. So 6 girls x say 5' equals your 30 sq.ft. You are, in my opinion, at the max for them. Then after you add their roost(s)/poop tray, nesting boxes, feed and water, there ya go....you're really at your max.

My suggestion would be to never turn on your light during the night...that is disruptive to their normal sleeping time. Me personally? I do not use artificial lights during winter for the simple reason my girls deserve a much-needed rest during the winter months. I wish you all the best!!

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Hello Chicken Master, I have found your information very helpful and wondered if you could help me with another problem. My chickens have stopped eating and I cannot get them to eat again. It is only zero and below here and everything I've read says they must eat and drink a lot in order to stay warm, and they won't eat! They were raised on Purina crumbles, then pellets, then I kept both out for them. Now they won't touch either one. I mixed some crumbles with warm water one morning and they ate a bowl full that I hand-fed them but wouldn't touch it the next day. I cooked them some steel-cut oatmeal and they barely picked at it. They eat meal worms like crazy, spinach out of my hand, but they will not eat their food. I bought some different feed when I was in Missoula today to see if they will eat it. But they hadn't eaten anything all day as far as I could tell. Please help! I'm afraid they are going to starve. I can feel their breast bones prominantly.

I got my girls from a feed store which kept them in a covered open pen. My girls act like they are still acting like they are in a very big yard where they all grouped up at night. I have tried food of all kinds and no luck getting them in the coop. If I can catch them all in the coop I will close up the coop and keep them in for several days and see if that works getting them to use the coop at night. Other than that.......Help!!!!

lee13732430 said:

I got my girls from a feed store which kept them in a covered open pen. My girls act like they are still acting like they are in a very big yard where they all grouped up at night. I have tried food of all kinds and no luck getting them in the coop. If I can catch them all in the coop I will close up the coop and keep them in for several days and see if that works getting them to use the coop at night. Other than that.......Help!!!!

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Hello, I raised my girls from 2 days old, in a big box in the house until they were big enough to put in the chicken tractor I built. I put the box in the tractor and they continued to sleep in it. When I got a regular coop I attached the chicken tractor to it, put their feed and water in the coop and they would go in and out all day but at night they would group up together on the ground in the tractor to sleep. So for a week I would wait until they were asleep (you can do most anything with a chicken once it goes to sleep), pick them up and put them in the coop and close the pop door. I'd let them out in the morning, and repeat the scenario at night. By the end of the week they were going into the coop at night by themselves. But they wouldn't sleep on the roost bar! So, it took two weeks, but each night I waited till they were asleep, then I went in and put them all on the roost. By the end of the two weeks they were flying up onto it themselves. I told my daughter, "Who would have thought you had to teach chickens how to be chickens." She said, "Well, mom, most baby chickens have a mommy chicken to teach them.: LOL So I guess she had a point. I was their mommy. Hope you find this helpful.