Chicks not roosting in coop at night

[rosemarythyme]

Two possible issues: 1) do the chicks know how to use the ramp, have you seen them going up and down it? 2) is there any lighting inside the coop portion or windows sufficient to let in ample natural light? Chickens cannot see in the dark and will not want to go inside a dark box.

I'm actually a big believer in locking them in the coop for a few days as that helps home the chickens without much further effort but that's not possible with most prefabs as there simply isn't enough space inside.

 

[Julieas]

Hello! New chicken mom here!! I'm having the same problem! I have 4 girls, 7 weeks old. I moved them to their house and run 1.5 weeks ago. I put them in their house (yes, its more than big enough for full grown girls) for one week before letting them out into the run. However they are not going into their house at night - i have to go out each night and put them in.
1) they have food/water in both their house/run
2) run is "a fortress" a per my husband
3) roosts are at the right height/spacing (i do find them on them in the morning)
4) they have windows in their house to see light/dark.

Anything I should do? I'm getting worried as I'm leaving on a one week vacation in 2 weeks and am not sure if they can or should stay out at night in their run if I dont put them to bed?? Not sure what to do?!?!

 

[rosemarythyme]

1) they have food/water in both their house/run
2) run is "a fortress" a per my husband

Anything I should do? I'm getting worried as I'm leaving on a one week vacation in 2 weeks and am not sure if they can or should stay out at night in their run if I dont put them to bed?? Not sure what to do?!?!

You could try having food (and/or water) inside the coop only, to encourage them to go in and out of the coop. Obviously keep an eye on them to make sure they're actually eating.

If you still can't convince them to sleep inside the coop by vacation time, and your coop is massive (like you're using a barn), you could lock them up the entire time you're gone, however that's probably overkill. Since you said the run is really secure, worst case scenario I guess is they'll sleep in the run for one week.

 

[Julieas]

You could try having food (and/or water) inside the coop only, to encourage them to go in and out of the coop. Obviously keep an eye on them to make sure they're actually eating.

If you still can't convince them to sleep inside the coop by vacation time, and your coop is massive (like you're using a barn), you could lock them up the entire time you're gone, however that's probably overkill. Since you said the run is really secure, worst case scenario I guess is they'll sleep in the run for one week.

They went in on their own tonight!!! So excited!!! I think I wasnt waiting long enough, it was totally dark when they went in their house -(i've been putting them in at dusk.)

 

[LittleMissCountry]

I had to physically put my chicks in the coop at night for a while. They were almost nine weeks old before they started going in at night on their own. I found that they did not like the ramp, so I spent several days putting them on the ramp about halfway up and helping them go in. I also put a brick under the bottom of the ramp so it wasn't as steep. After they started using it regularly, I removed the brick.