At what point do my chickens know when it’s time to go in the coop?

[Kluckners]

I just introduced my 14-week old chickens to the coop (due to reasons beyond my control the coop was delayed in being constructed). I blocked access to the nesting boxes, and have a roosting bar (higher than the boxes), and food and water inside the coop (in non-spill feeders). I put them in the coop in the evening the first day and they got up on the roosting bar within an hour after that.

It was fun to watch them jostling for position on the roosting bar. I'll keep them inside the coop for at least 5 days before opening the pop door for them to go into the run. Hopefully, by then they will be habituated to the coop and the roosting bar and will automatically go there at sundown. That's MY plan, anyway - the chickens may not play along!

This is exactly what I did and it worked great.

 

[murgiyan]

This is exactly what I did and it worked great.

This is a great idea. I will probably do the same once their coop is ready. What kind of poop board do you have and what is your bedding material?

 

[KarynVA]

This is a great idea. I will probably do the same once their coop is ready. What kind of poop board do you have and what is your bedding material?

I don't use poop boards (I only have 3 pullets). I use a mix of pine shavings and chopped straw. The roosting bar is removable so I just take it out and clean it; and I give the chickens some scratch every evening which encourages them to stir up the bedding and the poop so the poop dries out and breaks up. Works great for my set up.

 

[2006powerstroke90]

Ok so I waited a little longer tonight and they still wouldn’t go in on their own. So I put them in and I tried for about 5 minutes to get them to stay on the roosting bar and they keep jumping off and running into the corner. What am I doing wrong?

 

[tsperry88]

Ok so I waited a little longer tonight and they still wouldn’t go in on their own. So I put them in and I tried for about 5 minutes to get them to stay on the roosting bar and they keep jumping off and running into the corner. What am I doing wrong?

They don't like change. Higher roost bars may help to give them a desire too. Once their instincts kick in they will chose the highest point to sleep. There isn't a problem with them sleeping anywhere except the nest boxes. The roost is the preferred place as it keeps them from sleeping in droppings.

 

[RW1984]

Following.
I have a bunch of birds that like to sleep on the floor too.
Some sleep on the roost others on the floor

 

[tsperry88]

Following.
I have a bunch of birds that like to sleep on the floor too.
Some sleep on the roost others on the floor

I had quite a few that would sleep on the poop board. I put random objects in their favorite places to sleep, and placed the birds that didn't get the idea on the roost, just after dark for several week. They typically dont move once its dark. I still get the occasional bird that chooses to sleep on the poop board and probably gets pooped on all night.

 

[RW1984]

I had quite a few that would sleep on the poop board. I put random objects in their favorite places to sleep, and placed the birds that didn't get the idea on the roost, just after dark for several week. They typically dont move once its dark. I still get the occasional bird that chooses to sleep on the poop board and probably gets pooped on all night.

After manually placing them there at night for one to two weeks, did they continue on their own? Or resort back to ground sleeping?

 

[2006powerstroke90]

Maybe that’s my issue. It was sunset when I tried this. I will try tomorrow night when it’s completely dark and see how that works. They will not roost during the day....maybe a change of habitat has them all weirded out.

 

[tsperry88]

After manually placing them there at night for one to two weeks, did they continue on their own? Or resort back to ground sleeping?

They continued on their own. Once most of them sleep reliably on the roost, I would expect the remainder to follow eventually.