freerange?

[juice]

Hello, If you have a coop inside of a larger yard and you allow the birds to roam in there also...how do you get them into the coop at night? do you have to carry each one? I'm sure you can tell i'm new to this whole chicken thing...ours are new ...thanks...juice

 

[silkiechicken]

I suggest trying out the search feature that you can find on the blue bar fourth from the left.

If they learn where home is, they will go in at night by themselves.

 

[crooked stripe]

My 15 week olds are in the coop on the roost by dusk. No training involved. I do let them out of the run by 7:00 am and they roam most of the day with trips back to the covered run for naps. They have a routine built in them I guess. John

 

[farm_mom]

Many times the birds will come in on their own at dusk. But, you may find that you have a few still outside who just don't get it. Try turning a light on in the coop at dusk and they'll go in towards the light. After they have it down, you can turn the light off and they should all go in on their own at dusk. Good Luck!

 

[Sahara]

I've never had any problems getting the chickens to go back to the henhouse. When I first got mine I kept them in the coop for about a week and after that I let them out early in the morning and they go back by themselves in the evening. Good luck with your chickens.

 

[Red]

When we first started leaving our chicks out at night, they would huddle at the end of their run and wait for us to come and put them to bed. Within two days of us putting them to bed, they soon learned to take themselves up when it started getting dark

When we bought our first three chickens at 20 weeks old, we were told to leave them in the house for a day or two before letting them out to free-range, as that way they would learn where their bed was! We left them in the house for a day, then kept them in a run for a few days after that, before letting them out to free-range. They never had a problem taking themselves to bed.