Chicks won't go in...

[ArizaChick]

My 4 week old chicks just went into their run today. Now I can't get them in the coop. I have a guard dog and the two baby goats have been in there for weeks with no issues. Can I leave them in their run overnight? They have access to the coop but I had no idea I was suppose to start them in there and not the run.

 

[nuthatched]

Put them in the coop every night or lock them in every night until they get the idea.

 

[ArizaChick]

Put them in the coop every night or lock them in every night until they get the idea.

I could get 2 in before they would come flying out the door as I put the next one in. I felt like I was terrifying them.

 

[Vickischics]

I could get 2 in before they would come flying out the door as I put the next one in. I felt like I was terrifying them.

Let them settle and do it again after dark. Otherwise, they may not be there in the morning.

 

[nuthatched]

I could get 2 in before they would come flying out the door as I put the next one in. I felt like I was terrifying them.

Wait until dark and toss them in, they just don't like the dark coop but it's better for them.

 

[ArizaChick]

Let them settle and do it again after dark. Otherwise, they may not be there in the morning.

What could get them that doesn't come for the baby goats though? I'm trying to put 3 kids to bed then I can try again.

 

[Tonyroo]

I use a light in the coop to guide them in when there surrounding gets dark. But with chicks new to the outside it takes 2 weeks of putting them in manually.

 

[nuthatched]

What could get them that doesn't come for the baby goats though? I'm trying to put 3 kids to bed then I can try again.

Raccoons, for one thing, owls. What part of az are you in? They're hard to wrangle at 4 weeks. Maybe try set a let in the coop like point a flashlight towards the ceiling and then put them in, they won't want to leave the brighter coop and take the light as you leave.

 

[Vickischics]

What could get them that doesn't come for the baby goats though? I'm trying to put 3 kids to bed then I can try again.

Anything that could reach through the fencing, or slither through. Rats ,raccoons, opossums, snakes. You do what you feel is right. But, if you leave them in the run, they could disappear by morning. It's a chance you'll take.

 

[Vickischics]

I moved my coop tonight and now, I have to make adjustments for the door into the run. But, I went and picked up one chicken at a time tonight x12 from two years old to 12 weeks old and put them one by one inside their locked coop for the night. Tomorrow morning, I will put them out into the run the same way and repeat if I don't get a chance to work on the coop tomorrow. I always lock them up at night. The preditors are sneaky!