Bedtime routine question

[paiton]

I have tried putting the girls to bed after sundown but they started roosting on the outside of the coop. It's not a big deal to put them to bed at sundown correct? I saw a lot of people do later but my girls don't do well with that. I fed them when I let them out then feed them in the coop at bedtime. I'm assuming it's whatever works for each flock but I just wanted to be sure

 

[redsoxs]

They should coop on their own. Are they roosting on the coop? In the run? In trees? And where are you located? If it's super hot they may be reluctant to go inside. Do you have roosting poles in their coop? Sorry so many questions - just trying to figure out your situation.

 

[paiton]

They actually did for a couple weeks then they started roosting on the door and on the outside where the nesting box bumps out. Once they started doing that is when I started feeding them and they all know to go in. We are located in central Illinois. We've got two roosting bars. Like today for example they were out and I called them and they followed and went right into the coop. Like right now it's already pitch black out at 745

 

[carlf]

Do you have a fenced run or are they completely free-ranging? Photos of your setup?

If they are in a secure run, then while its a concern, its not a big deal. Mine did this twice when they were younger, it only took two or three night of me picking them up and putting them in the coop onto the roost bars & locking the door to retrain them both time.

If you don't have a secure run, you will have to keep herding them into the coop until they "re-learn" to roost there.
Otherwise its just a matter of time before they get picked off.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Mine are free ranging during the day. They know to go in at dusk, and some will...but there are always those who need some "encouragement" to actually go in. They'll loiter around outside until they see me coming with the net (it's really mostly for show) and then the stragglers start going in. We have too many predators here that are active after dusk for them to be out once it starts to get dark.

When I was integrating new chickens into the flock, a battery-operated lantern turned on in the coop right before dusk really made a difference in getting them to go in voluntarily. I read that tip here on BYC, and it really works!

 

[aart]

How old are they?
Those teenagers sometimes get into bad habits, hanging around outside after the street lights come on...tsktsk.

Do you have plenty of space and roost length?
How many birds?
How big is coop in feet by feet?
How long is roost in feet?

 

[paiton]

this is the coop and covered run we have 2 ducks and 6 chickens 2 roosting bars(about 6 feet long) and 5 nesting boxes. They are 12 weeks this week!

 

[paiton]

Approximate dimensions: 6 ft wide, 6 ft high, 5 ft deep is what the info on it says!

 

[paiton]

Also they either free range or stay in the run depending on if I'm home that day! I'm trying it out tonight to see what they'll do. I let them out an hour ago when I got home I'm going to check on them now and see if they're up or not. The sun is down now

 

[paiton]

Proud mom moment! The girls were already roosting I just had to put the ducks up! The ducks were waiting in the run! I guess they don't mind the schedule I set for them! Haha I just was worried they weren't getting enough out of the coop time but I let them lead tonight and they went in around sundown