Free range questions

[LaurenRitz]

I let my previous set of chickens free range in a fenced urban yard. I used the greenhouse as a coop, and once they figured out that the coop was "home" I had no problems. They put themselves to bed every night and all I had to do was close the door

The current batch of chicks seems to be an entirely different situation. After weeks of being allowed out into the run they still haven't learned to put themselves to bed at night. There are no adults to model themselves after. Several times I have had to go out and chase them back into the coop well after dark.

I am worried about what will happen when I allow them to free range on my new three acres. Will they even bother to come home at night? Will I end up catching each one and physically returning them to the coop at night?

How do I handle this? I have thought of fencing off an area for them until they get the idea, but I am not sure how well that would work.

 

[azygous]

It depends on if you got these chickens as adults or raised them in an indoor brooder as baby chicks.

If they are chicks, you need to teach them how to go into the coop at night. If they are adults, coop them up for several days and that will imprint on them where "home" is, and that is where they will go to roost at night once they imprint on the green house.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I got them as chicks. The oldest is currently 14 weeks. I am at a different location now, so I no longer have the greenhouse. They have their own coop. I left them in the coop for several weeks before I let them out into the run.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Will they even bother to come home at night?

I have thought of fencing off an area for them until they get the idea, but I am not sure how well that would work.

Some photos of that coop and knowing how many chickens you have might give someone a brainstorm of an idea. It sometimes helps to know what you are working with. It has helped before.

The way I'd approach this would be to build a run with your coop. Keep them in that coop/run and put them in the coop each night after it gets dark (they are easier to catch when it is dark) until they prove to you that they know that coop is their home. After they put themselves to bed every night for a week I'd feel comfortable letting them free range. This is the way I do mine.

I've tried locking them in the coop only for well over a week before I let them in my run. That doesn't work for mine. I still have to put them in every night to teach them to go to bed in there. My broods are typically in the range of 20 chicks. I had one brood learn that in just one day. I've had a couple of broods that took three weeks before the last few learned to go in. Most of mine learn within a week but each brood is different.

Another reason to build a run at that coop is that something could happen where you don't want them to free range. Say a fox is getting one of your chickens each day. You might want to keep them locked up until you deal with that fox. Having that flexibility could help a lot.

 

[centrarchid]

A trick I use is to let them out relatively late in the day so they do not leave the immediate vicinity of the coop / roost before wanting to return to roost even have so feed is at entranceway to coop. Make certain light levels are not too low in coop.

Doing some stupid which I'm better than most at, I have also set near roost in a lawn chair reading a book at roosting time. For some reason the birds want to roost near me.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Some photos of that coop and knowing how many chickens you have might give someone a brainstorm of an idea. It sometimes helps to know what you are working with. It has helped before.

The coop itself is 10x10, its own building attached to the garage. It has no natural light inside, so I am going to be changing out some of the metal siding inside the run for polycarbonate.

The run is about 15x8. They have access to both during the day. Both coop and run were already on the property when I bought it.

I have seven chicks, the oldest is 14 weeks.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Make certain light levels are not too low in coop.

This is one I am working on. There is no natural light in the coop so I am going to replace some of the metal panels with polycarbonate.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Getting natural light in there should help a lot. Chickens don't want to use a coop that's dark as it's hard to navigate.

 

[LaurenRitz]

I made that change yesterday after I posted this. I still had to chase them into the coop, but we'll see how they do tonight after they've had a chance to get used to the change.

 

[LaurenRitz]

No real change, but I think the light is the major problem. When I turn on the coop light they go right in.