Free feeding vs coaxing into the coop at night

[LisaMarie81]

Hi there! My chicks are 6 weeks this weekend and we have finally moved them to their coop outside. We have been free feeding up until now in confinement in their temp housing. My question is I've read free feeding/access to food all day is preferred for chickens, but I have also read that with time the girls will learn that their coop is the place to be at night because that's where they eat.

So my question is - how do you "free-feed" and teach chicks that the coop is where they are supposed to be when the sun goes without "bribing" them with food? Or will they just simply "learn"?

 

[snow5164]

We put a night light or two in the coop so as it got dark outside they’d go to it. We had to go coral them that way at first but they didn’t go there because of the food , they knew that’s where they sleep .. I think

 

[Zinjifrah]

I kept mine in the coop for a few days before opening up their access to the run. They never had any problem finding their way back inside, I just had some trouble convincing them that the run was safe to go into. They came around eventually - and every night, they're in on their roosts, without having a light on in there, and with free-choice food available.

 

[Folly's place]

I have food and water available in the coop and covered run all the time. Chicks need time to figure it all out, so keep them in for a few days, and then let them out when you are there, late in the day.
Mine learn to come when I call, because I'll spread a bit of scratch feed or something at the same time, and that helps too.
They will want to go in a roost in their coop, unless it's a tiny dark unventilated box.
Mary

 

[LisaMarie81]

Thanks all. I haven’t kept them in the coop for the first few days because we are under an extreme heat advisory and it’s going to be too hot in there. So maybe I’ll try the night light approach? This morning they didn’t seem to want to come out of the coop, so maybe that’s a good sign. I do lock them in there overnight obviously so maybe they will just get in the habit themselves.

Thanks for your help again!

 

[JemimaP]

I had the opposite problem they went to bed in their coop all by themselves no problem at all for the first week but now they refuse! They prefer to sleep on a high roost in their run. They literally ‘untrained’ themselves lol

 

[LisaMarie81]

/\ hahahaha...
That's both terrible and funny!
Stubborn birds.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

creatures of habit.

 

[Cyprus]

I never had to train mine to use the coop at night. They all just kind of knew that, I guess. They'd go out and come back in at night.
It likely helped that I always had older girls there to show them the ropes.
Most recently I put my youngest girls out to free range with the established flock. They integrated themselves in a few hours and that night they were roosting in the coop.

 

[lazy gardener]

Lisa Marie, you are using the right approach. Confining birds to a hot coop can be lethal. You may need to resolve to manually pick them up and shove them in the pop door for a few nights. An other consideration is this: Perhaps you are expecting them to go to bed too early? Try waiting a bit longer. If they do the pig pile on the floor of the run... at least they will be easier to catch so you can shove them in the pop door. An other option is to sprinkle some scratch mix on the ramp around dusk, with more in the litter of the coop. a little scratch is not going to upset their diet routine. I reserve scratch for training or for boredom busters. I may go weeks without using any, then may find it prudent to use some several times/day, all depending on what is going on with my flock. I never offer scratch without using a verbal call to the treat. In a pinch, the verbal call just might save a bird's life some day.

I do believe that we've discussed increasing the lighting and ventilation in your coop in an other thread. If so, those measures will help a lot.