7 week olds and coop training

[rcm1201]

Just moved my chickens to the outdoor coop/run 2 days ago. They are loving the run but refuse to stay in the coop at night. I have put them in manually but they always immediately run back out. I had to put a bucket in front of the coop door at night to keep them in until I get a manual door in place. I've also tried placing them on the roosting bars and they just immediately jump off and go huddle in the corner to go to sleep. Is this normal? Do I keep doing what I'm doing? First time chicken owner here.

 

[nuthatched]

Try a night light

 

[rosemarythyme]

Are you putting them on the roost when it's completely dark? If they can see they're more likely to hop off. That said, it's not unusual for chicks without adults to show them what to do to not want to roost at first, because they don't know to do it. If you give them some time they'll likely starting roosting on their own when they feel ready to do so.

 

[Brooks_]

completely dark?

This, or near completely, is key. And like nuthatched said, add a light inside. They gravitate towards the light in the evening.

 

[Brooks_]

Oh, and to the roosting bar, that usually takes a littl longer.

 

[rcm1201]

Are you putting them on the roost when it's completely dark? If they can see they're more likely to hop off. That said, it's not unusual for chicks without adults to show them what to do to not want to roost at first, because they don't know to do it. If you give them some time they'll likely starting roosting on their own when they feel ready to do so.

Good to know, I've been putting them in after sunset which means theres still a little light outside. I will wait until it is just about dark before I try tomorrow night. And will use the nightlight suggestion as well

 

[SourRoses]

When I want young birds to roost, I pop them up there manually when there's just enough light for me to make them out, so they can see that that they're up on a height; but dark enough that they don't have the confidence to jump down.
It's like a ten-minute window each day, if I don't get the timing right, they jump down faster than I can pick them up. If it's too dark when they go up they don't understand where they are and fall down.
I started being insistent that young birds roost as soon as they go out to the coop after I had a 2-month-old pullet get eaten by a rat one night that got in by the smallest gap between boards. It's much safer for them to be off the ground, and the sooner they learn the less time I have to worry.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

i feed mine inside when training and they learn quickly then i close em up for the night mine are 5 weeks and already go on on their own now

 

[aart]

Just moved my chickens to the outdoor coop/run 2 days ago. They are loving the run but refuse to stay in the coop at night. I have put them in manually but they always immediately run back out. I had to put a bucket in front of the coop door at night to keep them in until I get a manual door in place. I've also tried placing them on the roosting bars and they just immediately jump off and go huddle in the corner to go to sleep. Is this normal? Do I keep doing what I'm doing? First time chicken owner here.

So they need to go into the coop at night?
Sounds like you don't have a door on your coop, so I assume your run is predator proof.
I also assume you are keeping their feed/water in the run?
For them to become acclimated to the coop as a 'safe place', it's best to keep them confined to the coop for a week before allowing access to the run.

 

[Nodakj]

So they need to go into the coop at night?
Sounds like you don't have a door on your coop, so I assume your run is predator proof.
I also assume you are keeping their feed/water in the run?
For them to become acclimated to the coop as a 'safe place', it's best to keep them confined to the coop for a week before allowing access to the run.

This is how i inadvertently trained mine. My run was not complete but the coop was safe and roomier than the big portable soft sided dog kennel they were in. So i had then locked into the coop for a few days while i finished enclosing the run. The only other thing i did was used a ramp up to the roost inside the coop. They all gravitated naturally to the highest roost when it got dark which they do to this day. When the automatic door was activated a few days later they got locked out twice . First time they were all lined up on the outside ramp and i didn't know really what to do as i had not built a man door into the run yet. So i went and got a flashlight and put it inside the coop making it the brightest place to gravitate to. (They were not about to go through a dark square hole when it was brighter outside). So they learned to be on their perch before it got too dark outside and the door closed. (Which i adjusted to close a half hour past dusk instead of at dusk). The next night i think only 3 or 4 were locked out. And after adjusting the door it has never happened again.