Can't get 5 week old chicks into coop (Eglu Go-Up coop) - HELP

[AnneRaduns]

I'm desperate for some advice. I have 11 chicks that are 5 weeks old. This Eglu Go-Up is a "transitionary coop" from the brooder to their final home. I wanted to wait until they were closer to 12 weeks old before integrating them with my existing flock of 6 chickens. I am keeping 5 of the chicks, and my good friend is taking the other 6 in a couple of weeks. Here is my issue - I cannot seem to get the chicks to go into the coop at night. I can't lock them in there for a couple days because it's too small and too dark. It's great for a night-time coop (while they are little and make a "cuddle puddle") but it would be inhumane to leave them in there during the day. Every evening for the last 4 days, I go out there and manually put in them in the coop. I put a flashlight in there hoping the light would lure them in. No luck.

Best tips and advice to get these little cluckers to move themselves into the coop at night? I am desperate. I have to crawl over baby chicken poo to manually put them in the coop. It's gross and I am hating evening time.

Thank you in advance,
Anne

 

[nuthatched]

Can you run a little night light in it?

 

[AnneRaduns]

Can you run a little night light in it?

Yes, I can get power to it. You think a nightlight would work? At least just to get them inside, then I can turn it off when they are all up there?

 

[Battlepants]

IMO, just try to integrate them with the big flock. Chickens learn by watching other chickens, so when the big girls go to bed, so will the littles.

For safety, I would include a cat carrier in the coop with the door clamped open just enough for the little ones to get in and out. This would give them a place to hide if your big girls decide to be a little mean.

 

[nuthatched]

Yes, I can get power to it. You think a nightlight would work? At least just to get them inside, then I can turn it off when they are all up there?

It works for mine, it's worth a shot.

 

[Lor]

Yes, I can get power to it. You think a nightlight would work? At least just to get them inside, then I can turn it off when they are all up there?

Small battery powered lantern may work too.

 

[AnneRaduns]

IMO, just try to integrate them with the big flock. Chickens learn by watching other chickens, so when the big girls go to bed, so will the littles.

For safety, I would include a cat carrier in the coop with the door clamped open just enough for the little ones to get in and out. This would give them a place to hide if your big girls decide to be a little mean.

These little girls (in my opinion) are just too little to get integrated with the big girls, even with a cat carrier or dog crate. The big girl coop is in my profile picture. It's huge. And will easily hold 15 or 18 full size chickens very comfortably, with room to spare. But I want to give the "littles" more time to get bigger before they get mixed in - like at least another 6 weeks.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Do the chicks know how to use the ramp to go up? It's usually either 1) unfamiliar with ramp or 2) too dark inside the coop that causes them to not want to go in.

FYI it's actually easier to integrate early if you have the space for it, but that option goes away at around 7-8 weeks or so as their growing size works against them. Even if you're not comfortable with doing it with this batch, it's something to consider in the future.

 

[AnneRaduns]

Brilliant suggestions everyone. I ordered a disc nightlight from Amazon. But, my husband had a small rechargeable camping lantern. I put that in the back of the coop. Waited until it got good and dark. Everyone went in - up the ladder and into the coop. And the best part was that I did NOT have to crawl around in baby chicken poo to put them in the coop tonight. It was a HUGE success. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

[AnneRaduns]

Do the chicks know how to use the ramp to go up? It's usually either 1) unfamiliar with ramp or 2) too dark inside the coop that causes them to not want to go in.

FYI it's actually easier to integrate early if you have the space for it, but that option goes away at around 7-8 weeks or so as their growing size works against them. Even if you're not comfortable with doing it with this batch, it's something to consider in the future.

I would love to know how to integrate them earlier next time. Can you suggest how to do this or suggest reading materials on this method?