coop confinement- how long?

[fzouk]

Hi,

I had to lock my 17 chickens in the coop because of some that decided they wanted to start sleeping in the trees at night. There was another thread talking about different reasons why they started doing this, but anyway now they're caught and I think they just need a little reminding that the coop is where they live. So my question is how long will be sufficient in redirecting their idea of "home" to the coop? One friend told me 2 weeks should do it and that's fine with me, I was just wondering what you all thought about that time frame. I don't want to let them out too soon!

Thanks as always,
Frances

 

[cmom]

I guess two weeks would be good. Probably the longer the better. I kept mine in for a good week.

 

[TipsyDog]

Do you have a run with your coop? I kept them in the run for several weeks and then let them out. They don't go far and return to the coop.

I noticed you have SSH. I have one and she's not very bright. Sometimes she doesn't even find the way out with the door wide open, never mind back into the run!

 

[kathyinmo]

2 weeks? I thought I read that it was 2 or 3 nights. ???

 

[fzouk]

I guess I'll do 2 weeks then just so as not to go too short. My little hamburgs are flighty and I do have a couple I suspect got a raw deal when it came to intelligence.

But not all of them are that dumb and I am attached to them! They're just so wild and don't really care one way or another about human contact, although they will come to me when I go out there with them. I read about people with other breeds though that can just go pick them up or touch them and I can't imagine that because mine are so skittish! They are fantastic tick eaters though and that's why I got them. And they're great free rangers BECAUSE they're so wild and alert to everything. ...I just need to remind them where they live!