Chicks will not go up into coop at night

[nutmeg2356]

Hello!
I moved my (now 13 weeks old) chicks into the main coop with my lone survivor hen a few weeks ago. They now all get along fine, but no matter what I do, the chicks will NOT follow the older hen up into the coop at night.. I cant keep going outside every night to manually pick each of them up and put them in the coop. What can I do to teach them to go up there at night? It has been very cold outside, and now that we got hit by a huge blizzard, things are a bit snowy in the run of the coop even though it is covered.

I know you can lock them in the coop for a few days with food and water, but I think the older hen would have a fit and end up picking on the chicks out of boredom, since shes never been locked in the coop before (I leave the small entrance door to the actual roost area open so they can come/go as they please, since the whole coop and run are predator proof). I also cant keep the older hen out of the actual coop, because its too cold outside in the run, and I'm afraid she would get cold (and very irritated that shes locked out of the coop)

am at a loss as to what to do, any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[sourland]

Is there any possibility of penning the older hen away from the coop (a dog crate would be fine) while the young birds are locked in there for a week or so ?

 

[VyeFye]

You need to coop train them. They need to stay locked in the coop for a week or two so they can imprint on it as their home. Then they will go inside at night by themselves. Either put them in a large pet crate inside the coop with food and water or put your older hen in with them and then lock them up for the long haul. Obviously, you can check them everyday and you want to give them food and water. After the first few days you can let them into the run if they have one and then at night if they don't go back in the coop on their own, lock them back in for a few days.

 

[aart]

How many chicks?
How big is coop, in feet by feet?
Dimensions and pics would help.

Do the chicks go in and out of the coop during the day?
Are there good windows in the coop?
Turn on a light in there at dusk.....I used a battery operated puck light, turned it on an hour before roost time and turned it off when I locked up after dark, took a couple days to a week or so.

 

[igorsMistress]

I second trying the light

 

[lutherpug]

I second trying the light

Me too, it worked like a charm for me.

 

[AnimalGeek23]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chickens-not-sleeping-in-coop.1281950/
Try reading through this thread to see if it could help

 

[aart]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chickens-not-sleeping-in-coop.1281950/
Try reading through this thread to see if it could help

That's a whole different kind of situation.

 

[AnimalGeek23]

That's a whole different kind of situation.

Oh I'm so sorry! I just saw the title and was in a rush--my apologies!!