Chickens traumatized?

[blackrhino7]

We currently have two 5 month old chickens, with a coop at night and two acres during the day. We started off with 3 but unfortunately one was killed by a raccoon that got into the coop at night. The other two chickens witnessed the killing of their friend and escaped from the coop to safety. Problem is now they refuse to go into their coop at night.
Every night I end up carrying both of them into the coop and locking them up. It's been 2 months and they still refuse to go in at night. They'll wonder in during the day for food and water but try and roost on the railing of our back deck at night.
How can I get these two chickens to naturally go into their coop at night, like they were before this happened?
Thanks

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Sorry about your losses to the coons. Have you tried locking them in the coop/run for a few days so they can't get to the railing, can you make the roosting space in the coop more attractive and/or the deck railing less attractive?

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Welcome to BYC. Glad you joined us!

 

[blackrhino7]

Hey Kelsie2290, I have locked them back in the coop for 3 days, and that didn't work. Thinking I might need to lock them in for a bit longer?
Thanks, for your suggestion!

 

[chicken amigo]

From all of the reading I have done, the only remedy I have found on the subject is to lock them up in the coop for a couple of days and if it doesn't work then do it again each time longer than the last. It sucks that they had to witness that. Good luck

 

[blackrhino7]

Thanks, I appreciate the help, I'll definitely try locking them in longer.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Welcome to BYC!

We're glad to have you.

Sorry to hear about your losses! Locking them in the coop for a while may help the problem.

 

[BantamLover21]

Glad you joined us!

I'm sorry about the loss of your hens.

X2 on Wyandottes7's and chicken amigo's advice on locking the survivors in their coop.

 

[chanceschickens]

I agree This is probably all you can do . Good luck

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Sorry about the coon attacks. Yes, I think you should try keeping them locked in for much longer. It takes chickens a while to get over traumatic attacks. They just don't forget that easily. It could take weeks for them to forget. You might also try some relaxing music during the day and at night use a ticking clock. I have used clocks and soft music on stressed out parrots before with great success. The constant tick will become reassuring at night and the daytime quiet music will help to settle the nerves before roosting. I keep a clock in my coop all the time, 24/7 365.

Good luck with your birds. I hope they can heal soon.