Chicks will not go outside

[Hens and Harmonicas]

Hello! We are new backyard chicken raisers... I worked on a small farm with a comparatively large flock years ago, and am realizing that much of how they were maintained and raised was done without my conscious attention.
So these 7 chicks are probably about 10-12 wks old, we got them from a local Murdoch's, a big farm and ranch supply place. They were a little overgrown already when we got them, and then we kept them in the brooder for about a month. We have been struggling to finish the outside coop and to get the outside run predator-proofed. Now we have moved them into the outside into the coop, which is obviously much larger than the brooder. And we have finished the door to the outside pen, which is predator proof now (fingers crossed), but they will not go out that door. They just look at it like it is the portal to quick death. There is the frustrated thought to just push them out the door, balanced with the knowledge that MORE fear and panic will not help these babies find their (relative) freedom. HELP!

 

[DobieLover]

Can you post pictures of your coop and run? That will help with suggestions.
BTW, welcome to BYC!

 

[TomZilla43]

Hello and 1st of all . Chickens young and old are notoriously petrified of everything that they are not familiar with. Unless there's something at play here beyond just the surface level fear of all things unknown, given a little time they will explore and find out that the door is not the "portal to quick death" and before you know it they will be all over checking the new digs out. Like the earlier poster said some pics would be nice to see if there's something beyond the normal fear issues to deal with. But I'm betting it's just that, in any case keep us posted and best of luck with your new flock fam.

 

[50-45-1]

I would move the food and water out side where they can see it out there.
Give them a good motivator to adventure outside.
They will catch on eventually.
Good luck and by the way...Welcome to the backyard!

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

How long have they been in the coop? The outside is a new thing and can be scary. Hence the name: chicken. Id just be patient. It took ours 2 days to get out. They will come out eventually. Pretty soon you'll be having trouble getting them back in! We had to go in the run every night for 2 weeks to put them to bed

 

[Hens and Harmonicas]

Can you post pictures of your coop and run? That will help with suggestions.
BTW, welcome to BYC!

I will, as soon as the tech to do so is available... I have a (blessedly) dumbphone, but my wife has an IPhone...

 

[Ridgerunner]

This sounds totally absolutely normal. Unless something totally weird is going on you are doing great. Some people like to try to micromanage their chickens or get really concerned if their chickens aren't doing something on a schedule they consider "normal". There is nothing normal about chickens. Each chicken is an individual, each flock has its own dynamics. They do things when they want to, not when we think they "should".

Sometimes when I first open the pop door to the run every chick is on the ground within 15 minutes. Sometimes it's three days before the first one builds up the courage to hop down and those are sometimes back in the coop in a minute or two. But eventually they all go on the ground. I let them do that at their pace.

I'll be looking for your next thread "I can't get my chickens to go into the coop".

Welcome to the forum. Glad you joined. I think you will like having chickens. You will soon see that chicken TV is better than anything you can find on cable or antenna.

 

[Perris]

hello @Hens and Harmonicas ! welcome to BYC

 

[Mrs. K]

I agree, last year when I took mine out into the coop, their space was tripled, and they enjoyed that space for a couple of days. Just leave them be, and they will figure it out.

Mrs K