ChickenThunderdome
Songster
This won't be interesting to anyone but newbies. I was impressed by how quickly our 5wk old chicks caught on. Can't say this is the right way but will say it worked for us.
NIGHT/DAY 1. 5wk chicks go from brooder to closed coop 1 hour before sunset. Small feeder/water in for the first night only just because it's a traumatic experience that first day.(remove next morning to encourage them to explore/leave the coop for food/water) - Open the coop door at dawn, if after a few hours they are not out take a few of the bigger chicks and place them out of the coop into the run, hopefully after this the others will follow.(You may have to take ALL of them out first day.)
NIGHT/DAY 2. Just before the sun starts to set, make sure your coop is open(should never have been closed from the morning) and place a dim light like a small flashlight in the back of the coop.(they are scared of dark/unknown spaces) Likely your chickens are not yet in the coop themselves, so wrangle them up one by one and walk them up the ramp into the coop so they learn the process. Close the coop up for the night AFTER removing the light. - Open the coop door at dawn. By now they should be coming out on their own but if not repeat the removal of a few so the rest follow. During the day you can lay chick treats on the ramp(if you have one) into the coop that gets them to explore/figure out how to walk up and down the ramp)
By night/day 3 they were the varsity team. By day 4 they were pros at it. The bantams took a little more helping as the ramp was more trouble for them. I'm convinced the trick to success was placing them in the coop just before bed time night 1 so they associated it with a place of safety along with holding them but walking them up the ramp into the coop that following evening.
The treats and light trick seem to help too.
Anyways that may have been long winded and stupid but wanted to pass it on.
NIGHT/DAY 1. 5wk chicks go from brooder to closed coop 1 hour before sunset. Small feeder/water in for the first night only just because it's a traumatic experience that first day.(remove next morning to encourage them to explore/leave the coop for food/water) - Open the coop door at dawn, if after a few hours they are not out take a few of the bigger chicks and place them out of the coop into the run, hopefully after this the others will follow.(You may have to take ALL of them out first day.)
NIGHT/DAY 2. Just before the sun starts to set, make sure your coop is open(should never have been closed from the morning) and place a dim light like a small flashlight in the back of the coop.(they are scared of dark/unknown spaces) Likely your chickens are not yet in the coop themselves, so wrangle them up one by one and walk them up the ramp into the coop so they learn the process. Close the coop up for the night AFTER removing the light. - Open the coop door at dawn. By now they should be coming out on their own but if not repeat the removal of a few so the rest follow. During the day you can lay chick treats on the ramp(if you have one) into the coop that gets them to explore/figure out how to walk up and down the ramp)
By night/day 3 they were the varsity team. By day 4 they were pros at it. The bantams took a little more helping as the ramp was more trouble for them. I'm convinced the trick to success was placing them in the coop just before bed time night 1 so they associated it with a place of safety along with holding them but walking them up the ramp into the coop that following evening.
The treats and light trick seem to help too.
Anyways that may have been long winded and stupid but wanted to pass it on.
