Chickens making noise before bedtime....

[Jenski]

The ones from Wal Mart are pretty bright, and each one has 3 LEDs in it. I found they worked better than the single LED lights, as the chicks could see the light better.

Before I got those lights, I simply used a flashlight propped up in the coop. You could also try that, as they won't need it for very long anyway.

Good luck!

 

[mandalitten]

I put a light in the coop, and sure enough, when it started getting dark all three of them walked upstairs! What a relief for me hehe. Thanks to all who made that suggestion..

 

[stilldeb]

My chicks get restless and don't know what to do when it's "roosting time" either - this idea about the tap lite is great. I'm trying it, too. They start jumping on top of their feeder and waterer out in their run and we end up "shooshing" them into the coop and shutting the door and then they settle down. The coop has three levels of roosting bars inside and they do use them. I know they will eventually "get it", but I needed a good idea to help them, and this is great.

By the way, I love your coop, too! It's so cute!

Here's mine:

 

[DancingShinryu]

I am new to backyard chickens, and I am glad I found this forum since there is a lot of good information here. However, I am having a 'problem' I hope to get some help on...

The 3 chicks are about 6-7 weeks now, and I have had them almost two weeks. When it starts to get dark, they seem a little anxious and make noise. It's not a loud noise or cackling, but more like a whistle. It's not really loud, but I don't want to draw attention to them either since I live in a city. They must make the noise for a reason and they probably not happy. The coop is about 4'x3' and 3' high. The coop itself is about 1.5' above ground and the run is underneath the coop. The strange thing is that they don't want to go upstairs either and eventually they get quiet and fall asleep on the ground.... They know where the coop is since I have kept the food up there. I also have a roosting stick (a real branch with bark so it should be too slippery) and I seem them on it so I know they can make it up there. The coop also has fresh shavings. I also put a light up there the first night to see if they would go up, but it didn't help. If I try catching them to put them upstairs they get louder... What can I do to make them stay quiet and go inside the coop at night?
Here is a picture of the coop.

I have raised many chicks and most of them I have hand raised from incubating eggs. None of them have had broody mums. I feel they only make this noise when they don’t have any mums to teach them what they are meant to do. When mine start getting loud like this, I collect them and sit them on my bed with me and they calm down instantly. After about 4-5 weeks old I would go out just before sunset and sit with them until dark. I then manually put them all on the roost bars in the coop. I haven’t heard that sound as much now and it also makes them so easy to treat for mites etc because I have their utmost trust. Some friends call me a chicken Druid which makes me chuckle but in all honesty, I’m just their mum.