Changing Coops

[rmonge00]

Hi everyone,

I need a little advice... I have just built another chicken coop for my chickens (I am converting their old one into a tool shed) and now I am having trouble getting them to make the switch. I open the door to their coop and close it at night, so there is no pen than they are normally kept in. They keep trying to return to their original coop - any ideas on how to break them of this habit. On the first night, I just went in and grabbed them off of their roosts and put them in the new coop so they would wake up there. The next night, I closed the door to the first coop, hoping they would figure it out, but they just sat by the closed door for an hour and then went to go roost in the trees behind the coop. I have tried giving them treats inside their new coop, but they are very skeptical. Any other ideas??? Should I just keep grabbing them off of their roosts at night until they figure it out?

Thanks!

Ryan

 

[teach1rusl]

I KNOW you're not just now figuring out that chickens HATE change!!! LOL
I wanted to swap out nest boxes, replacing a 2 hole one for a 4 hole one I'd built. So I sat the 4 hole nest box inside their coop for over a week (2 hole one still mounted on the wall), thinking they'd get used to seeing it. After I (stealthily I thought) made the switch, my egg supply decreased by over half for two days. I had chickens peeking in warily and then running around frantically looking for any place to lay an egg OTHER than that evil looking 4 hole nest box...

I'd probably try a few things...
I'd keep thier old one blocked off for sure.
I'd add a light for a few nights to attempt to "lure" them to safety. If it works, you can go turn it off 10ish after everyone is in.
I'd probably try looping a temporary run around the new coop with chicken wire or deer netting strung on metal posts to keep them near for 2-3 days.
I'd lace all the new nest boxes with eggs, wooden or real - and show them!
I'd toss any treats or scraps they get inside the new coop so they associate it with something non scary...

I think that's about all I have. Some would say actually lock them inside for several days, but we're have hot, humid days here, so that would not be an option for me...

It just takes time with chickens and anything new...

 

[mabhera]

I'm almost new to chickens but i'' ll lock them up in the new coop until they feel it like home. In 3 to 4 days i"ll let them free range again to see if they accepted the change in location.

 

[farmin4fun]

I second mabhera's solution. I've had to move chickens before. The best way I've found is to keep them locked up in the new coop for several days, maybe even a week, until it starts to feel like home for them. This has always worked for me. The light suggestion is a good idea as well I think.

 

[muttsrbest]

I do it the same way every year and never have a problem. I have a small coop where I put babies and a large coop for adults. When they are about 2-3 months old, I decide they are too cramped in the small coop and make the change. I wait until they've been in bed for an hour or so and then move them from one coop to the other, with the other adult birds, while they are half asleep. I close both coop doors so they can't run downstairs in the small coop and they can't run away when I put them in the big coop. In the morning, I open the adult coop door. For 3-5 nights, I watch them go to bed, wait 15 min or so and go count chickens in the big coop to make sure no one went to bed in a tree. It works every single time. They pine over their old coop, walking around and around, trying to see how they can get in. As it starts getting darker and darker, they will go to the big coop. It's always a huge adjustment as they try to figure out pecking order, get pecked by the current adult birds, and find somewhere to sleep but just for a few days. You hear all this stress and they talk and talk and fall off the roosts and have to climb back up but in a few minutes, all is calm and they sleep. Once they do it two days in a row, I figure they have it and don't worry about them. I totally realize all birds are different but it's just what works for me. They are actually in the transition process for right now. Tonight was the second night. Tonight, the babies went to bed before the older rooster. He tried to go upstairs to roost 3 times but there were intruders so he'd come back down. He is quick to go roost in a tree, which I can't have here. They will get dead. So next time he tries to go up, I peeked in the coop to see what was the problem. He got on the high roost that time, pecking babies out of the way as he went, but he settled right down and the babies fell in around him. It's hard to see them get pecked but it's just the way chickens work. As long as they don't draw blood, which has been rare in my 7 years of backyard chickens, all is well. They do have a pecking order, although that order mostly changes over time. These young birds are the bottom of the todem pole today but once they are all adults and all laying together, they just become a big group and deference is given only to the rooster. I have to add, our chickens are not pets so I don't figure into their pecking order, for the most part. I am the bearer of food, water, and treats and only step in if one is bullying another, which I don't tolerate in any species so maybe my flock is different than one where they are all pets. I'm not sure about that. I only know how my flocks function. Anyway, that's my two cent's worth on the matter!

 

[ChickenMama321]

I am having the same issue! Will try this tonight !