Chicks will not go in coop?!?

[Macadoow]

Spent good time and money building a coop with automatic door for my chickens and they refuse to go inside. Its plenty big. 5x8 for 4 chickens with a 12x12 yard. They will go under it to sleep but never in it. Granted they have only been in there for just under 2 weeks, but how can I get them to take to going inside. The door is about 13x13 and about 15 inches of the ground.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Are they young birds? Give them time. Chicks need time to learn stuff and to have confidence.

 

[snow5164]

We put a dim night light in the coop, went outside a dust for a week to herd them in . Close off the underside for now, we also shut the door for a few weeks to tuck them in.. patience is required , they are babies and their night vision is bad

 

[Silkie2]

How old are they? maybe lock them in the coop for awhile. is their feed in the coop?
make sure to lock them in the coop at night and eventually they will get the hang of it patience!

 

[jthornton]

My second group didn't like how dark it was inside so I replaced the roof panels on one side with clearish ones and that night they all went in without any hesitation. Previous nights they would look inside but not go in. I had to put each one in and close the door.

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JT

 

[cmom]

Here is how I have gotten my chicks to go into the coop at night. I give them some treats. When they figure it out that if they go in they will get some treats, they go right in. One of their favorites is worm but I do give them a little scratch grains too. I also have some grit in there too. I have a bucket that I keep the treats in and when they see the bucket they know it's treat time. I also have some night lights in my coops. The lights are 3 watt LCD bulbs. They give off about the same amount of light as a standard 25 watt bulb does. Good luck and have fun...

 

[Howard E]

OP.....can you provide some pictures of your coop and setup?

 

[Toothpick]

I locked mine in the coop for about two weeks when I first put them outside, from the brooder. Then I opened the chicken door one day and that was that. Never had a problem with them not going in the coop at night.

 

[Well Seasoned]

Locked them in the coop for 2 weeks as well here. It was still quite cold out, so this worked well anyway.

 

[Doc7]

I say lock them in. My 3 week, 1 day old chicks when I went out there after dark tonight. They’ve had the door open for two days now and return to the coop like champs. They were locked in for the first couple weeks and shut in nightly for the last week.