I’m new to chickens. I have 3 six week old chicks who have been moved to their outside space. It’s a small coop and run. We close the door between the run and coop at night and they sleep in the coop. We open the door so they can come into the run during the day. But they don’t seem to want to come out. They sit at the door of the coop most of the day. Should I be putting them in the run and shutting the coop door during the day? Anything else I should be doing differently? Thanks for helping out this newbie!
Chicks in Coop
- Thread starter GLchicken
- Start date
Not to worry. If you want to physically put them into the run... go for it. But, they will come out on their own. They really arent fans of new situations.... but they are so nosey, they will eventually come out 
Hello, here is my fool proof stress free plan. Everything I do with chickens and especially chicks is designed to be as stress free as possible. I will be making a youTube video on this. I do what you're asking about at 14 days age, so they are able to be integrated with hens at 16-19 days of age.
On a day you are home (work from home during pandemic is good for this or a weekend.)
Open Coop Door.
1 Hour Later check where chicks are
1 hour later check where chicks are. If in same place as last time, throw them through the pop door (either into or out of the coop).
1 hour later check where chicks are.
1 hour later check where chicks are. If in same place as last time, throw them through the pop door (either into or out of the coop).
The point is this. you check them once per hour. Only when they are in the same place TWO HOURS in a row do you do anything, and that's tossing them through a door. You don't care or need to know what they did in the mean time.
Once you have seen them go in and out on their own, you're done.
I keep feed and water inside the coop for this. That way, they are encouraged to use the ramp to go back into the coop.
If they have shade they will be fine for the intervals i am mentioning.
For stress free- do not sit and watch the chicks for long periods of time (this applies for adding new kind of waterer, etc, also). This only adds chicken keeper stress, possibly distracts chicks, wastes your personal free time, and makes you worry that they aren't doing what you want them to do.
On a day you are home (work from home during pandemic is good for this or a weekend.)
Open Coop Door.
1 Hour Later check where chicks are
1 hour later check where chicks are. If in same place as last time, throw them through the pop door (either into or out of the coop).
1 hour later check where chicks are.
1 hour later check where chicks are. If in same place as last time, throw them through the pop door (either into or out of the coop).
The point is this. you check them once per hour. Only when they are in the same place TWO HOURS in a row do you do anything, and that's tossing them through a door. You don't care or need to know what they did in the mean time.
Once you have seen them go in and out on their own, you're done.
I keep feed and water inside the coop for this. That way, they are encouraged to use the ramp to go back into the coop.
If they have shade they will be fine for the intervals i am mentioning.
For stress free- do not sit and watch the chicks for long periods of time (this applies for adding new kind of waterer, etc, also). This only adds chicken keeper stress, possibly distracts chicks, wastes your personal free time, and makes you worry that they aren't doing what you want them to do.
Finished my video on this today:
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