Teaching young chickens to go in the coop at night

[Deegie]

Hello everyone, I have so appreciated being able to come here and find answers to nearly all my questions. I do have one now that I need some more specific answers to. My husband and I are first time chicken owners. For some reason he just decided in March he wanted raise chickens. lol - We are both 60. We were very late getting started and our flock is just under 10 weeks old. We picked them up at the hatchery on June 8th. We lost only one that simply would never eat but other than that all are healthy and now are huge. We built a sturdy 8 x 12 coop with 9 X 16 run. The coop is raised off the ground almost 2 feet and we added a hardware cloth apron so the chicken would eventually have access under the coop as part of the run. The run is completely enclosed in hardware cloth with an under ground apron and has metal roof. I know it seems a little overkill but it is so nice. The entire thing is protected from wind as we are in a valley and it sits in the shade. A temperature gauge indicated the high temp inside was 95 degrees on our 103 degree day last week. Our chickens moved in three days ago. I blocked their ability to get under the coop until they are coop trained.
I put them in the coop the first night at dusk. I then had to teach them to exit the next morning. There is an automatic door but they were still inside after an hour. That was day one.
That night I added a light inside the coop after reading several posts here. At dusk there were several hens resting at the top of the ramp near the door but I had to insist they go in and again I had to catch the others and put them in before closing the door. I was pleased to find that they exited all on their own the next day. That was yesterday morning. And day two. Last night was basically a repeat of the night before. I have taken to disconnecting the battery to the auto door each day for fear it will come down on a hen resting at the top of ramp if I lose track of time and don't get out there before it closes. I just hook it back up and close the door allowing it to open on it's own.
I also left the small led lamp on all night and all chicken found the roost okay this time instead of roosting on the floor of the coop. (I checked around 11pm but didn't open the door so as not to disturb)

Oh... I forgot to mention. I have 6 inches of venting just below the roof all the way around and covered in hardware cloth. There are two windows. 18" high by 3' long. One on each end. The windows are propped open now since it is summer. I have been it at length as we worked on it. There is no draft or breeze.

I want to know if it is too hot and that is why they don't want in. I could open the windows all the way but it may allow a breeze they would need to get on the floor to escape. Then again it is very warm out there.

I believe my run is a safe as possible but not as safe as the coop. I feel better knowing they are inside we went to a lot of money and expense to provide the coop and even though I know I could let them stay outside right now. Our winters can turn cruel very quickly and I want them to know that the coop is the safe place.

Do I just keep doing what I am doing? I don't want to be impatient but I want to be sure I am not overheating them or anything like that.

Thanks so much for your patience while I learn

Lorianne aka Deegie

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

Keeping them inside the coop for about 3 days will teach them that your coop is their home. Also putting a perch inside would also help them want to sleep in there

 

[Deegie]

Keeping them inside the coop for about 3 days will teach them that your coop is their home. Also putting a perch inside would also help them want to sleep in there

Thank for this info. I thought perhaps patience was the key but wanted to ask those with experience. I do have roosts inside the coop. there are two. They are made of 2x4 turned on side so the 2" side is up. they are both 5' long and one is 15" off the floor the other is 25" off the floor. I saw so many posts on roosts that I just winged it and went with what seemed best to me. If they need more room we will make more later. Thank you again for the input.

 

[townchicks]

I think you are doing great. If it were me, I would go ahead and leave the window open, a little breeze would probably be welcome in these hot summer temps. I have a safe run and leave my coop door open year round.

 

[Deegie]

Hello and thank you for your reply. I will open the windows all the way. We used to keep quail and they don't coop up at night. We had a terrible time with them attracting all the night predators. We had bobcats simply laying in our driveway in the evening and at night. We didn't get rid of the birds because of the predators but I was glad when we did decide not to keep them anymore. I have grandchildren that come on occasion, not to mention my little dogs. I really want those darn chickens locked up at night. lol - I know the bobcats and coyotes will still come. But maybe not as much... I hope.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I want to know if it is too hot and that is why they don't want in. I could open the windows all the way but it may allow a breeze they would need to get on the floor to escape. Then again it is very warm out there.

A temperature gauge indicated the high temp inside was 95 degrees on our 103 degree day last week.

How hot is it inside the coop vs outside - is that temperature measurement inside the coop vs outside?

A breeze in hot weather would be ideal actually... the draft free rule is more about cooler weather, in hot weather some cross breeze is a good idea to help them cool off. Heat is harder for chickens to deal with than cold.

Because it is hotter right now I would not lock them inside the coop for an extended period of time to "home" them to it (otherwise I would suggest a week or so inside coop only). You're probably going to have to go out there and put in stragglers for the time being, until they figure it out.

Also light should not be left on overnight. Using it to lure them into the coop is ok (though ideally you should not need it, you may need to add more windows to let in enough natural light so they can navigate that way at sunset) but it should be turned off once they're in. Main goal at this time is to just get them inside the coop at dusk, floor or roost doesn't matter as much (though if you're like me and insist on them roosting, you'll need to make sure they get on the roost as well, or get placed there).

 

[Deegie]

Hi all, I am still working on getting my teenage chickens in the coop at night. As suggested we opened the windows all the way up. We are leaving the light on dim all night long and most seem to be finding the roost once they are in the coop. I have not been placing them there. They find it on their own.
I have been waiting until it is fully dark before I go out and check on them. About half are finding their own way into the coop the other half have been settling down on a couple of concrete blocks we are using to set the waterers on in the run. Today we went out and hung the waterers from chains and removed the concrete blocks. Our hope is if there are no blocks to huddle on, they will follow their flock mates into the coop.
As for the temperature here. It has been warm during the day. Up into the upper 90s. The coop and most of the run are in full shade and stay cool. We did use a metal roof for the coop but put plywood sheeting under it to keep it cool in the summer and warm in the winter. I was surprised at how cool it stayed inside the coop while we working on it in 100-degree weather. So the coop is not hot and with the windows open should be fine.
I think the biggest problem is they roosted on the ground for the first 10 weeks of their life. They had too small of a space and no coop. We didn't plan it that way but an injury slowed down our coop and run build. As a result, they love the open space of the run and have no adult chickens to teach them about going to bed. I think they will learn if I am patient. I am just checking with you folks to make sure I am on the right path. And from what you have said so far... I am. Thank you

Lorianne aka Deegie

 

[CluckingLucky]

We’ve raised 3 sets of chicks, and all of them preferred sleeping in a big pile on the ground before taking to a roost. I think it’s just their instinct to be in a group for protection.

We have a sh*t shelf in our coop, so having them roost at night keeps the coop much cleaner. I don’t think there is any really good way to make them roost, besides having roosts available and time.

Our last batch of 16 chicks is about 10 weeks old now, and are currently integrating with 8 - 1 year old hens, and 8 - 20 week old pullets/cockerel. The 16 young ones have been living in the brooder, inside the coop since about the 4th of July. The older birds could see them but couldn’t touch the them. On the 4th of August they got full access of the coop and run, from a protected section of the the run. Even with the example of the older birds, it took probably 3-4 days before any would leave their cordoned section at all, and probably 5 days till any tried to make it inside the coop before dark. Right now we usually have 1 or 2 that doesn’t make it in before the door closes about 3-4 nights a week. We scoop them up and place them in the coop.
In the last week, I am noticing that they are starting to roost with the older birds at night, although there is still a pile of 8-10 on the floor at night.
From our experience, in time they’ll figure it out and start acting chickens. It sounds like you’re giving them the chance to learn which is all you can really do sometimes.