FREE RANGING, A how do you gwet them into their pen BEFORE dusk?

[chicken+quail=luv]

The way we trained our chickens is that we put them in their coop every night, right before dusk. Eventually, they learned how to do it themselves.

I'm not sure if this will work for your chickens, but it did for mine. Just to warn you, this sometimes includes some chasing!

 

[Knight Hawk Ranch]

One word: FOOD

Mine know me as the food dispenser. So all I have to do is have a container with food in it and they follow me....sometimes mob me even if I don't have food.

 

[feathersnuggles]

Shake some seeds in a cup to make a rattling noise. I keep an old paper coffee cup by the back door. Put a small amount of sunflower seeds in the cup, slap on the lid and shake the cup so the seeds rattle. I walk out the door, down the steps. My chickens come squawking, & flying from everywhere. I just open the run and toss the seeds WAY into the run. The birds tumble inside the run, diving for the seeds, and I shut the door.

The only caveat is: make sure ALL the birds are present before you toss the seeds into the run. Otherwise, you'll have a straggler who will be hard to catch.

 

[karen71]

If you need them in before dark - I agree with other posters FOOD !!!!
Mine love bread or scratch and will go anywhere for it. I would get some and throw in the coop then shut maybe if you do it enough they will go in before dark all the time

Good luck .

 

[KandJsmama]

Quote:
Shaking a bowl of scratch and setting in the coop has worked for us. If I end up with a straggler, I have found that if you chase them around they eventually get tired and you can grab them. Unfortunately you get pretty tired too but at least you don't have to worry about locking your birds up while you are out for the evening.

 

[fargosmom]

two words: sunflower . . . . seeds
foolproof.

 

[silkydragon]

mine just go in no treats or training i lock the new 1s in 1day/overnight after that they go back at night

 

[chickenshagg]

Same way I get them any time I want them, I just whistle and they come running. But like several others have said I usually reward them with some king of treat.
I start out just whistling for them as I walk towards their coop/run. Then when they come running I start dispencing some kind of treat. That will keep them occupied/distracted while the last few straglers come in. Then I am able to close up the gate and they are all locked in!

Sometimes I have one that remains out (usually Copper) but I have to close the gate so no otheres will run back out. Copper is pretty smart so I have to trick her some how inorder to catch her. Most times I am able to squat down on the ground and russel through some leaves or grass and she will come running to see what I found. At that point I grab her and put her in with the others.

There have been times where I had to go and ended up leaving some out but when I have come home I found them inside the run or on top of the seven foot fence!

 

[Gunnygranny]

When mine were babies I started calling them and giving them a treat -- so now when I call them they expect a treat. A friend had to get rid of a couple of hers and it didn't take long for the new hens to catch on. I use cooked rice or cooked spaghetti --some times I also use scratch if I don't have the rice/spaghetti. My girls are such pigs it doesn't take much!
Good luck
Gunnygranny

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

S-c-r-a-t-c-h :d