Tina, I tried-no light in the coop and no chickens either, they all went to sleep in a feathered pile in one corner of the range.... sigh. Now I'm regretting that the 'windows' on the ends where the range doors are don't open; last night I figured out I could grab a maximum of 2 chicks at a time from the sleeping pile, if I moved quickly, and could still stand up, walk to the side of the tractor, open it up and get them in before the other sleepers tried to make a break for it (or before my lab mix dog decided to go into the range after them). If the windows opened (instead of just being stapled in mesh with wooden shutters) I could just pop them right from the range door through the open window... ah well, live and learn.
Since NOT turning a light on doesn't work, and leaving the light on as it gets dark doesn't work, I'll try something else tonight...need to get the little buggers trained before the end of the month when I go away for a few days, as I don't expect my chicken-sitter to go through this fiasco
Since NOT turning a light on doesn't work, and leaving the light on as it gets dark doesn't work, I'll try something else tonight...need to get the little buggers trained before the end of the month when I go away for a few days, as I don't expect my chicken-sitter to go through this fiasco

Luke13:34 :
My chickies go to bed when it starts getting dark. Maybe the light on in the coop is confusing them. Try leaving it off and see what happens.
My chickies go to bed when it starts getting dark. Maybe the light on in the coop is confusing them. Try leaving it off and see what happens.