Getting 2 mo old hens to go into the coop

[Knoxville chickens]

I have 10, two month old hens. I added them to 4, one year old hens. The young hens will not go into the coop with the older hens. I have tried to leave a light on to draw the younger hens in but they go to the door and try to nest. Has anyone had this problem?

 

[newchck]

I have 10, two month old hens. I added them to 4, one year old hens. The young hens will not go into the coop with the older hens. I have tried to leave a light on to draw the younger hens in but they go to the door and try to nest. Has anyone had this problem?

I didn't have this problem, but you may have to put them in there at night and hopefully they will get it

 

[CluckerFamily]

You may want to try sprinkling some treats in the coop before bedtime and then when they all go in, you can lock them in.

 

[rosemarythyme]

How well integrated are they with the older birds?

Do you have extra roost space to accommodate all the birds? How many roosts and how long are they?

I've not had issue getting young birds to follow adults in, but I start off by caging them inside the coop for a few days, and then giving them the option of going in voluntarily. I also have 2 roosts so the younger birds all start off on the lower roost that is mostly unused.

 

[Knoxville chickens]

Yes I have plenty of roost space... the birds have been together for 3 weeks... and they stayed in the coop for a couple of weeks...

 

[Knoxville chickens]

Yes I have plenty of roost space... the birds have been together for 3 weeks... and they stayed in the coop for a couple of weeks...

 

[NatJ]

I have 10, two month old hens. I added them to 4, one year old hens. The young hens will not go into the coop with the older hens. I have tried to leave a light on to draw the younger hens in but they go to the door and try to nest.

Are they afraid of the older hens?
Do the older hens chase them away from the roosts?

It might help if you just sit quietly out there one evening and watch what happens, from the time the first one goes in until it's completely dark.

I have seen times when a big one just walks across the coop for a snack or a drink, and the little ones all run away. The big one didn't peck anyone, but the little ones ran anyway. When I watched longer, I saw why: the big one demanded a certain amount of space, and pecked any little one that was in that space. But that meant the littles could not settle for the night until the big ones finally quit moving around--and by then it was dark enough that the littles were settled somewhere else. (The solution in my case was to have less birds and more roosts, and it improved further when the little ones grew up enough to stand up for themselves.)

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, welcome to the forum. Glad you joined.

Thanks for telling us the numbers and ages, that helps. It would also help to know more about the coop. How big is it in feet. Plenty of roost space doesn't say how much or how it is laid out. How is it laid out inside, especially the roosts. Is it elevated or on the ground? Photos might help.

There could be different things going on. When I move chicks from the brooder to my grow-out coop they typically want to sleep on the ground under the door when I let them into the run, even if they have been housed and sleeping in the locked coop for a while. It could have something to do with this.

My brooder raised chicks typically start sleeping on the roosts around 10 to 12 weeks of age. I've had some start at 5 weeks and some that waited longer to start but 10 to 12 weeks is about average. Until they are ready to roost they sleep in a group in a low spot. This might have something to do with what is going on. My broody-raised chicks act differently. The broody typically teaches them to roost.

If they are in the coop with adults, my brooder-raised chicks usually don't sleep on the roosts with the adults until they mature enough to force their way into the pecking order. With my pullets that's usually when they start to lay. If they try to sleep on the main roosts with the adults they get pecked so they look for a safer place to sleep. As long as it is not my nests and is some place predator safe I don't care where they sleep.

I have seen a hen leave her regular roosting spot and go to the back corner of the roosts where juveniles are trying to sleep and attack them. There was plenty of room up there but she went out of her way to beat them up. Those were broody-raised chicks that were used to roosting but the hen had weaned them and stopped protecting them on the roosts. Those chicks stopped sleeping on the roosts. I suspect fear of the adults might have something to do with it, if not now then later.

So what can you do? If you consider them predator safe where they are life is good. I don't see any problems. So I guess that is option #1.

How big your coop is and how it is laid out (especially roosts) might give us some insight. Once they start to roost most chickens like to roost as high as they can. If the older hens won't let them on the main roosts that could be your nests. I integrate different juvenile groups every year and had the sleeping in the nests problem until I installed a juvenile roost. It is lower than the main roosts, horizontally separated from the man roosts so the hens can't peck them, and higher than the nests. This solved about 95% of my sleeping in the nest problems once they are ready to roost.

When I have chickens that don't want to sleep in the coop I typically wait until it's dark so they are easier to catch. If you have a lot of light down there at night like a security light or street light it may not get that dark. I lock the juveniles in the main coop. I just toss them in onto the coop floor and let them work it out. They do. After consistently tossing them in every night they eventually get the message that they need to sleep inside. Sometimes that only takes once, I've had to do that every night for three weeks before that all got that message. My broods are typically around 20 chicks, not your 10.

I have a big coop with that juvenile roost and other places for them to hide. When I lock them in there I'm down there at daybreak the next morning until I'm sure they are going to be OK in there with the adults if I want o sleep in a bit. Usually that takes me one or two times, then I feel OK about leaving them until later. I typically find the juveniles up on the main roosts while the adults are on the coop floor. It usually doesn't take long for the juveniles to learn to get up there and avoid the adults.

Depending on circumstances I might do this with 5 week olds, 8 week olds, or 12 week olds. In all cases these chicks have been fully integrated with the adults. They are OK with the adults during the day.

I don't know exactly what is going on with yours. I suspect them not being ready to roost on their own is part of it. Fear of those older hens may be contributing. What you describe is not strange at all to me. I'd consider that typical behavior. Good luck on working it out.