can babies new to coop have coop and run or just coop?

[Rushdoggie]

In my experience they will eventually "get it". They will see you coming and go in on their own. It just takes time and patience. As long as the roosting area in the coop is higher than their run roosts, they will seek out the highest roost. Usually if you're locking them in an area, it's so they get used to that being their home. I've never locked any birds in the coop, just the run. I've intoduced new birds to the flock a handful of times and eventually they all go into the coop - before the auto door closes. They learn - maybe not on our time schedule though.

Thanks. Maybe I am just impatient.

 

[AOrchard]

Could also temporarily make a small run inside the run. Like restrict them to only a couple feet of outdoor space using a little bit of chicken wire or puppy panels, or put a kennel in front of the entry to the coop so the doors line up. Leave the food in the coop. Then they can still go outside, but there aren't any nice roosts out there and they are more encouraged to spend time in the coop. Kind of a halfway solution between locking them in completely and having full access to the run.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is your coop elevated? I have more problems with this with an elevated coop than if it is at ground level. I've never had this problem with my ground-level shelter.

When I move the chicks from the brooder in my coop to my elevated grow-out coop, I used to lock them in the 4' x 8' grow-out coop for a week or so before I let them in the 8' x 12' run section with that grow-out coop. I was hoping they would learn that coop as home and go in on their own at night. Nope, they consistently go to bed in a group under the pop door. The chicks are typically 5 weeks old when I move them from the brooder and around 6 weeks old when I start this process. So every night after dark I lock them into the grow-out coop for predator protection. My broods are typically in the range of 20 chicks.

Typically it takes about a week before they all learn to go inside to sleep. After a couple of nights a few go in on their own but the others still try to sleep under the pop door. Each brood is different. A couple of times I've had to lock them in for three weeks before the last few got the message.

One of the funniest things I've seen was one time I put them all inside one night and the next night they all started to go to sleep under the pop door. I went down there just before dark to do something else and they saw me in that area. One by one they slowly went inside. I did not do anything other than just be in the area. After that they put themselves to bed every night without me being around. I was down there at bedtime with several different broods but that never happened again. Each brood is different.

My brooder-raised chicks tend to start sleeping on the roosts on their own around 10 to 12 weeks of age. Until then they sleep in a corner in a group on the brooder floor. Don't expect them to go to the roosts immediately.