From the garage to the Coop -- HOW?

[herefordlovinglady]

I have 3 game hens, one BR roo and a Xbred Game/BR roo. Well they have all taken up roost in our garage at night. This has gotten very messy, but i do not want to shut the door because it is a safe place for them. I have lost over 15 birds to predators in the last year and just do not want to loose anymore. My DH built me a 12x8 coop (no run attached) for Christmas. It is ready. How do I get them from the garage into the coop? They are wild. I am so very slowly getting closer to them each morning when i scatter their scratch out. I have put scratch around the coop and inside the coop. I was thinking maybe one night when they are roosting to catch them and put them in the coop and leave them there for a couple of days ---- ?????

 

[nhnanna]

I would wait until they are on the perch at night and one by one move them to the new coop and keep them in there for about a week so they know that is where to go at night.

 

[ranchhand]

Perfect advice!

All I can add is that if the are getting any light they may be skittish and it's hard to catch chickens at night without a flashlight. So have a net of some sort handy- like a fishing net. And two people are 4 times better than one!

Good luck!

 

[eastbaychicks]

Put lots of food for them to scratch around and peck at. Plus they love to fill up before bed, it's so cute.... that worked for me! They really loved their new coop with it's custom sleeping places and nesting boxes. I'm sure it will go GREAT. They will happily claim their new home.