Any advice?

[peaceeandlovee]

Hello all!

I'm in need of some advice, I have had our flock in their new coop for 3 weeks. I locked them up for a week, let them out to see if they would return to their home. No go, I locked them up for another week and had the same result. This is the 3rd week they have been locked up and tonight I only had to chase 9/12 to bring them in. Any advice as to get them to return home at night. They are still returning to the garage, where they were before. They are 18 weeks. Thanks a bunch, any advice is much appreciated!

 

[KrisH]

Hello all!

I'm in need of some advice, I have had our flock in their new coop for 3 weeks. I locked them up for a week, let them out to see if they would return to their home. No go, I locked them up for another week and had the same result. This is the 3rd week they have been locked up and tonight I only had to chase 9/12 to bring them in. Any advice as to get them to return home at night. They are still returning to the garage, where they were before. They are 18 weeks. Thanks a bunch, any advice is much appreciated!

With guinea, the rule of thumb is 6 weeks in the new coop to return there at night, some i have heard will only let out in groups, and keep some in the coup so that the others return to their buddies.

not sure if that helps with what you have, but it has worked for us

RobertH

 

[Judy]

If your garage is cooler than their coop, they are likely going to want to go there as long as it is hot. Even in Maine, chickens suffer with the heat in summer. Be sure the coop has plenty of natural light and breeze. For whatever reason, I would guess they prefer the garage to the coop. That should be way more than enough locked up time to learn where you want them to go.

 

[peaceeandlovee]

Thanks for the help. We built a beautiful 8x8 coop and I don't understand why they would want the tarped off area in the garage, they had. I'm going to try and let out half and see I that does the trick. We have a huge 4x4 window in the front and both ends have 2 feet of vents, so I'm assuming there is enough of a breeze, their coop is also in the shade so it stays pretty cool. Maybe a few more weeks. I should be expecting eggs in the next couple of weeks, and I should leave them locked up to know where to lay correct? I am so thankful for you fellow chickeners!