Chicken won’t go in hen house at night

[NatJ]

My coop is 2/5th closed & 3/5th open fencing.... When they do roost, 1 goes inside the closed side & 2 roost in the open side... I feel they should all be in the closed side at night... both sides are just as safe

If it is just as safe, there is no reason to insist they be inside solid walls. Solid walls are a human invention, not a chicken one. Chickens seem to like the idea of roosting in trees--no walls in sight! Of course we make them roost in coops to be safe, but the part with more wire mesh and less solid walls will be cooler in summer, and they might just like it better even in winter. Those feathers really do keep them warm!

 

[DSill]

Are there any windows? Maybe they are afraid to enter a dark area. When I first started letting my 6 chicks out into the run at about 7 weeks, I only had one food container so I brought it into the coop as it started to get dark. The chicks came in for the food, I guess. I only took two days of me herding them up the ramp. Now, they just go inside and fly/jump up to roost when it starts getting dark, but my coop has lots of windows, so it isn't really any darker than outside. I'm lucky to have a very cooperative flock.

 

[LongLakeL]

They might be too young still ... I remember having to do a lot of chasing around at dusk last summer until the chickens matured and starting going in on their own. Also, are there a couple of roosting beams in the coop?

 

[MGChickenRanch]

My flock on average are 70 days old. There are 12 of them and at night they huddle out side the hen house and I have to pick each one up every night to put to bed about 9pm. They aren’t afraid of the house. It’s completely predator proof and they go in and out all day long. They are getting heavy and I don’t know how to get them to go in by themselves.

I have a coop and run just like yours. My chickens all head in to sleep in the coop when the sun starts going down. The trick is to coop train them. Keep them in the coop without letting them our for a week or two to get them in the habit of roosting inside. Then start opening the door same time every morning and then close it at night for a while. Once they have established this habit you should not have to manually put them in. They do love to be up high to roost. I have several roosting areas but they all huddle together on a platform that is about 4 feet off the floor; they hop on and off via a ladder.

 

[Coreenelane]

I have a man door on my 4x8 coop perches are 4 and 5 feet off the ground. At 3 weeks old they followed the leader hen and were perching ever since. First time this has ever happened. Guess I'm lucky this year. Only have 4 hens. lost most of my chickens over winter from coyotes, fox, raccoons, Cooper hawk and a neighbors dog that got loose so now I am starting over with 19 chicks. They are now two and a half months old and doing well. I am just now able to tell witch ones are roos.

 

[pnwoldie]

Hello.
It could be the temperature of the hen house. But what I found out because I’m new to keeping chickens. My 7 hens (no rooster at the time) did this all of a sudden and I being new to keeping chickens as I said before. There was a black snake living inside of the hen house. The black snake was eating my eggs on a daily basis.

He was eating really good until I figured it out. I figured it out, because at the time they were young hens laying 7 eggs a day. then I went to collect the eggs. Started to notice I was getting maybe 4/5 eggs a day. That’s when I found the snake inside of the nesting box.

The chickens would lay on the snake which was under the straw bedding. Chickens would lay the eggs. I guess keeping the snake warm in the process, not harming the chickens. Lay the eggs. Then the snake would eat the eggs.
CRAZY RIGHT!!

One time a nest box smelled funny, and I lifted up the hay to find a family of mice living in the corner. Gross. Now I check frequently. I also put permethrin powder underneath the hay, and haven’t had any parasite problems since (knock on wood)

 

[Helg]

My flock on average are 70 days old. There are 12 of them and at night they huddle out side the hen house and I have to pick each one up every night to put to bed about 9pm. They aren’t afraid of the house. It’s completely predator proof and they go in and out all day long. They are getting heavy and I don’t know how to get them to go in by themselves.

lock them up in the coop for a full day. Let them go to roost with the sunset. They will feel more at home in the coop after you do this.

 

[Barbara l sandoval]

My flock on average are 70 days old. There are 12 of them and at night they huddle out side the hen house and I have to pick each one up every night to put to bed about 9pm. They aren’t afraid of the house. It’s completely predator proof and they go in and out all day long. They are getting heavy and I don’t know how to get them to go in by themselves.

My husband uses a small flashlight they can see and he slowly walks toward the chicken coop and for some reason it works . They just start hopping in the coop kinda cute to watch lol

 

[MityLucky1]

My flock on average are 70 days old. There are 12 of them and at night they huddle out side the hen house and I have to pick each one up every night to put to bed about 9pm. They aren’t afraid of the house. It’s completely predator proof and they go in and out all day long. They are getting heavy and I don’t know how to get them to go in by themselves.

For some reason I’ve had the same problem with mine youngsters as well. One thing I noticed was they were enjoying being out so much that would wait until it was too dark in the coop to see. Now I put a light on and they are not afraid to go in and the only time I have that problem is if I forget to turn the light on for them

 

[shayhillman]

It’s 8 by 8 and it’s connected to the run so should smell the same. I built it we. Not a crack one other than the hardware cloth vents. The little 4 by 4 I had them in befor I built there nice coop they went in fine. I don’t get it. There run is 12 by 16 and hen house 8 by 8 and 6 ft tall. I think it’s big enough. Grrrr I don’t get it

Hmm.. I wonder if you made another vent/window closer towards the middle or right side of the pop door area and another one on the opposite wall but right across from the other one? Just a thought. But I’m not chicken whisperer.

Maybe it’s too hot inside the coop. My chickens are doing the same. I added a fan inside the coop and now my chickens are sleeping inside.