17 week hens won’t go into coop

[Medatho]

Hello. Last year was a bad year and we dropped from 17 birds to 6 by the time April hit. We fixed all the gaps and “solved” a two predators.

In April we replenished 16 new chicks. One didn’t make it this far so we have 6 older hens and 15 younger. Now the new hens are 17 weeks old.

We gave them 4 weeks of see but don’t touch inside a smaller coop/run that’s enclosed inside the larger run. For the past 4 weeks we’ve had to physically put these 15 young hens into the coop every night.

We’ve never had this stubborn a group of hens… and they outnumber 2.5:1. This is our 4th round of chicks. Every previous time it was less than half the # of larger birds. The most we had to put them in at night was two nights on previous groups.

Any suggestions? Our guess is too much bullying. Should we leave the little ones in the coop for days with plenty of food and water and force the big 6 outside for 4 nights?

 

[Vickischics]

Continue putting your young pullets in the coop at night. You will need to teach them and finally, one day, they will learn. They are use to being outside in the smaller coop in the run.
Don't put them inside through a different door, usher them through the door you want them to go through.
You can also call to them and coax with treats.
Good luck

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Are you sure there is enough room for all the birds in the coop? Do the littles still have access to the coop they were in as babies? You might need to close it up so they have no choice but to go into the big-girl coop. They may decide to roost on top of it, in which case you may need to get rid of it. We like to integrate our littles between five and eight weeks, yours are a bit older and rather set in their ways. Good luck to you!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Added thought: it does not seem that your 6 older birds could bully 17 new ones so badly that none of the young ones would go in the coop. Unless there just wasn't enough room. Are you familiar with the general rule that each hen needs 4 sq ft of floor space in the coop, not counting nest boxes or space occupied by feeders or waterers? Your 23 birds need 92 sq feet or a little more than a 9 x 10 building.

 

[Medatho]

Yep, we have a 10x10 building full 8’ tall with roosting space for 30. We had 22 at our max at one point prior but that was with some that we “inherited” and we did’t know ages…

Yes the other coop is closed up, but you nailed it they are roosting on top of it nightly. My son has the idea of running chicken wire up the sides to the netting to prevent them access. Sounds like maybe that’s a good idea?

 

[Mrs. K]

YES that is a good idea. Anytime you want them to go somewhere else, blocking where they are going helps huge. If they are laying in the wrong spot or whatever.

MRs K