Chick's first night in coop!

[azygous]

Actually, chicks will gravitate toward the highest perches not long after moving into the coop. Low chick perches are almost always shunned, much like kids shunning the kiddie table at Thanksgiving.

Bottom line is chicks generally do very well upon moving into their coop. In the beginning of keeping a flock, I had just one coop, and moving chicks in with adults can be exceedingly challenging because they are afraid of the adults, and the junior adults can get to picking on the little ones, making it even harder.

Now, I have a second coop partitioned in half where my two rooster live in one half, and new chicks have the dedicated other half. This makes moving into the coop a breeze since no adults are in there to bully them. When the chicks are around a year old, they almost always move into the main coop on their own volition, usually conveniently in time for me to move the most recent batch of chicks into the chick coop.

 

[The Kid Farmer]

My chickens loved the roost when we put it in the coop in the daytime, but from what I can tell they are just in a "cuddle puddle" while they are sleeping, but I will check again tomorrow. We used a heat plate for the chicks, and I put it in the coop in case they get cold, should I not have done that? Should I be teaching them to use the roost at night or will they learn because they do it during the daytime anyways. We also don't have a light switch or anything in there, the only light is from natural light, so I don't have full control of when the light goes off, but I can close the windows so that they go to sleep earlier.

 

[azygous]

Whether you teach your chicks to roost or let them discover the roosting perch on their own is entirely your call. There is no right or wrong way to move chicks into a coop. Some keep hands off and allow the chicks to figure the roosting out, and some, like me, know chicks are capable of roosting, and I just feel like getting on with it.

Before a kind friend ran electricity to my coops, I used a little key chain flash light to create a "beacon" for the chicks as they learned to go into the coop. Any portable battery operated light will work well, and it can be quite dim rather than bright. Having a light for the first few night teaching chicks to go into the coop is a terrific aid.

 

[The Kid Farmer]

Thanks for the advice! I love how active the community here is

 

[rosemarythyme]

Hi! Our chickens are going to spend their first night outside tonight! I'm a little worried about them going to bed to early, because there aren't that many windows in the coop. Do I need a night-light or will they be fine? Also, do I need food and water in both the coop and the run?

Any photos of the coop? Personally I like ample natural light in a coop but they just need enough light to see by. If your coop doesn't have that, you'll need to add windows at some point (or artificial lighting) or you may find the birds don't want to return to the coop at night, because they can't see.

Once they're in and settled they don't need light until time to get up the next morning. They also won't need food or water overnight... but only if it stays dark (otherwise they'll want to get up and eat). So no I would not leave a night light on all night.

Oh! One more thing! I read some websites that said we should shut the chicks in the coop for a couple days to teach them that the coop is where they go to bed, is this true?

I did lock my first batch of chicks in, but 1) the coop was plenty spacious for the number of chicks and 2) it was well ventilated and naturally well lit, so it was safe to lock them in - no danger of overheating or not eating due to darkness, etc. If your coop does not fit that description, I would not lock them in.

 

[The Kid Farmer]

Okay, I will post some pics of the coop later