Chickens suddenly won’t go in coop at night?

[TOMTE]

That’s just happened to me tonight! I changed the pine shavings in two coops and none of the chickens will go in Did yours adjust to the new shavings?

When I changed from pine shavings to wood pellets, all I had to do was act super curious and interested, picking up a pellet at a time, looking at it, showing it to my girls, almost "tidbitting" to them to show them it was safe. Put them in the coop, they walked around on the pellets and checked them out with their beaks, and they were fine and comfortable after a few minutes. It can help to throw some scratch in there for them to dig for treats in.

 

[Champers11]

Check the coop for poultry mites and proper ventilation as chickens often will prefer to spend the night outside when one or both of the above will impair their wellbeing.

I hosed both coops clean with water before I added the shavings but will look closely for mites. They are 7 months old and I'd been using the same bag of shavings for them since they were chicks, before switching to this new bag. The Plymouths have stayed outside the coop a few other times, but the Silkies always go inside. The fact that they all stayed outside last night with the new shavings made me think that must be the culprit.

 

[Champers11]

When I changed from pine shavings to wood pellets, all I had to do was act super curious and interested, picking up a pellet at a time, looking at it, showing it to my girls, almost "tidbitting" to them to show them it was safe. Put them in the coop, they walked around on the pellets and checked them out with their beaks, and they were fine and comfortable after a few minutes. It can help to throw some scratch in there for them to dig for treats in.

Thank you, I'll try that too!