Chickens staying in their coop!

bkyrdchickens

Hatching
Aug 17, 2015
4
0
7
Hi all! First time poster here!

So my boyfriend and I just got 3 little chickens, one silkie and 2 French Marans and we built them an awesome coop and popped it in our back yard. At first we had to put them in at night because they hadn't quite figured it all out, which is normal, so after about a week-10days of rounding them up, we went out one night and voila! They had put themselves to bed. About a week later, they won't come out lol! They will come down a few times a day but mostly they are up in their coop. I lure them out with mealworms and once they've had their fill they go right back up! Is this normal? Should I be worried?
 
Hi :welcome

Glad you could join the flock! Congratulations on your new chickens :celebrate Do you think something could have bothered them while they were out of the coop? A predator for example? If your chickens are healthy and acting normal I would not be too worried at this time. They may just be getting used to there new home still and find the coop comforting now they realise going in there is not so bad. Do you have their feed and water outside the coop so this would encourage than more to venture out.

Wishing you the very best of luck in the future and enjoy BYC :frow
 
Yes their food and water are hanging below the coop in the shady area. I think maybe the Florida heat just gets to them bc they seem to venture out during cloudy times of day.
 
You may want to post on your state thread and see how other chickeners handle the hot weather. In very hot areas some people build coops with two wire walls and two solid ones for extra air flow. In cooler weather they may put solid panels over the wire walls. Shade, shade and more shade are the ticket. Natural or manufactured such as tarps, tc.
 
Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

I agree with the advice given by Yorkshire Coop and Drumstick Diva. Give them some time to learn to come out and in.
 

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