Any suggestions on getting a young flock to go back in the coop at night?

[onebusymom]

I've been letting my girls out during the day. My older flock does just fine - enjoys the outing, destroys some of my flower beds, gathers at sunset and heads in. My younger flock, aptly named the Dingle Twits, haven't figured it out yet. They received this name after the fourth night of me having to round them up since they don't have enough intelligence to come in at night like the Goddesses do. It's not too bad, I don't have to chase them down or anything, just walk behind them herding them in the right direction. One night, I asked my daughter whether she thought the Dingle Twits would be where they should be and the name stuck.

The funny thing is that the goddesses gather outside the run, preen and chat, then file in for the night. The first few nights, Hera and Ariadne came back out a couple times squawking at the younger flock like they were telling them it was time for bed or something. ^.^ The Dingle Twits just sat there. After the second night of this, the Goddesses gave up and just did their thing.

I thought we had a eureka after that because I found everyone inside three nights in a row. Just when I was beginning to think they might get it, the Dingle Twits were at it again. The night before last, this is what I found when I went to lock up:



The glowing dots are the Dingle Twits 15 feet in the air. They used the bench to get to the lower branches, the lower branches to get to the umbrella and the umbrella to get to the tree.

They were very content to just stay there and it took quite a bit of patience and broom stick cajoling to get them down. I only put the umbrella there to offer shade as the trees aren't quite big enough yet - thought I was being a good chicken mama.

Does anyone have suggestions on how I can get the Dingle Twits to come in when they're supposed to without having to keep everyone locked up during the day?

Thanks for the help and enjoy the laugh.

 

[petcommunicator]

maybe if your feeding them a little bit of food during the day to top them off when there out don't do that so they'll be hungry enough to go back in to eat

 

[Ciqala]

I agree with the food, or maybe a special yummy treat, at dusk. I hung a flashlight in our coop and put it on a little before dusk every night when I was having a problem with mine when they were younger going in on their own, worked like a charm and didn't take long for me to have to keep doing it.

 

[chickenbythesea]

with our young'ns I just turn a lamp in inside the coop until they're in and that seems to work till they get the hang of it.

 

[rje ma]

Do you think it might be to hot in the coop?

 

[srcarucci]

I've been having the same problem. Put a 40w red lightbulb in and I can get them to go in, but if I can't get them in early enough and then try to turn the light out, they're getting really upset and start piling on each other, which I know is dangerous. Mine are 8 weeks old.
I've had chickens before but have never had such a hard time getting them into the coop. I can't lock them in right now as it's too hot during the day. Their run is pretty well protected, but I would like to get them up into the coop - on their own! - at night. I can leave the light on few a few days and just see if they go up on their own, but it seems like I need to herd them, even with the light. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[chicksak]

When mine were about 3 months old I came out one night to round them up for the night and found they had put themselves to bed.
I find that when I give them a bit of scratch in the early evening they all come running into their pen and usually stay in for the night and end up putting themselves to bed.

 

[onebusymom]

Thanks everyone. My coop has plenty of ventilation and isn't too hot. I think a big part of the problem is that the big girls won't let them in until THEY are ready to go in (literally standing guard so the little bits can't get past the door to the run). Yesterday with the rain, I left them in the run. When I went out last night, they had all found a place in the coop - yea! Today however, the bullying started all over. Big ones won't let the little ones near food or water, kept running them back into the coop and wouldn't let them into the run.

I finally let the olders out and kept the youngers in the run/coop area. Grrr, I sure wish they'd figure this out.