Chicks scared to sleep in their coop?

[smott]

I could have written this myself, honestly! Right down to huddling in a pile by the door, and me feeling like I'm being mean!
Ours don't really go inside during the day much that I've seen.
At dusk, I've been putting a battery powered LED (illuminates pretty much the whole coop inside) magnetic light in there and as it gets dark outside, they head in on their own. (Thanks BYC forum for that tip, chasing them around each evening trying to round them up wasn't my idea of fun!) After they're in, I've been picking them up, setting them on their roost, and then taking out the light and closing the door. The first night, all but 3 jumped off the roost, second night, all but one stayed up there! They still chirp and aren't happy when I take out their light but they do eventually settle down, and I feel better that they're up on their roost.
Last night we were late getting home, it was pretty dark out, and they were all perched on the lip of the door to the coop, piled on top of each other- like they were too scared to go all the way into the dark, scary coop but knew thats where they go at night. So I've probably created an issue there, as I eventually want to ditch the battery light lol.
Ours are about 5.5 weeks old.

Thanks for sharing! I haven’t tackled the roost issue yet but mine are eventually going into the coop at dark if I leave them alone. I have one little bantam who goes and stands in the corner well before dark like she’s getting there early to get the best seat , and I also have a few stragglers who like to stand outside and cry until the last possible minute lol. I rearranged a few things and they were a little more spread out on the floor last night. I have some tiny lights that are meant to illuminate stair steps that I am leaving on in the coop (they don’t actually give off much light at all), and one brighter LED light that I am turning off after they get in and get settled. I am unsure yet how I will go about placing them on the roosts since they are piling in the human door to sleep, which doesn’t allow me to get back in without disturbing the whole pile lol. I have yet to see them sleeping deeply enough that I can make a noise without them looking around either, so maybe I will give it a little time.

 

[ChickForLife]

LED light. They are scared of the dark!