Getting chickens into coop at night.

[jploria116]

So I have 6 x 9 week old chickens in my coop. This is their second week in the coop. First week I kept them inside to get acclimated to their new home. A few days ago I set up the automatic door (opens and closes with daylight) Run chicken. However my chickens will not go inside at night. I have a fully enclosed predator and weather proof run but I want them to go inside for the extra security. My wife seems to think it’s because I installed a roosting bar in the run. This is where they go at night but I’ve seen plenty of runs with areas to roost.

Two nights in a row we’ve had to manually place them inside the coop and shut the door. What are some tips to training them to go inside and should I remove outside roost? I was going to order some solar lights off Amazon to try?

Thanks

I added a picture of my coop and run just prior to being finished. I also added a picture of the lights I was gonna try.

 

[DobieLover]

Did you train them to walk up the ramp?

 

[Mrs. K]

This will probably be a one time problem, once you get a multi generational flock, they well follow the adults, but like typical teenagers, they are the last in.

A click on light, inside the coop, turn it on before dark, and they should go in. Once they have roosted a couple of times, they will go in there without the light.

I just relooked at your coop, that is pretty small from the picture point of view. What are the dimensions? That probably won't be part of this problem, as they are not full size birds, but they will be full size in a couple of months. For 6 birds - should have close to 24 square feet in the coop... so 4x 6 feet would be the smallest, and really a little bigger is best. Too small of coop leads to really ugly behaviors.

Mrs K

 

[jploria116]

This will probably be a one time problem, once you get a multi generational flock, they well follow the adults, but like typical teenagers, they are the last in.

A click on light, inside the coop, turn it on before dark, and they should go in. Once they have roosted a couple of times, they will go in there without the light.

I just relooked at your coop, that is pretty small from the picture point of view. What are the dimensions? That probably won't be part of this problem, as they are not full size birds, but they will be full size in a couple of months. For 6 birds - should have close to 24 square feet in the coop... so 4x 6 feet would be the smallest, and really a little bigger is best. Too small of coop leads to really ugly behaviors.

Mrs K

Here’s a picture as the run was being built. it’s 5x5x5.

 

[jploria116]

Did you train them to walk up the ramp?

At night they go up the ramp but wouldn’t go inside… just a lot of flying around.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

They may not go in if the coop is dark, it's scary because they can't see into the interior. Even a small night light could help, and once they're settled you can turn it off. They won't sleep if it's brightly lit all night. As Mrs. K said, young birds tend to stay up later than their older sisters, gotta get that one last bug before Lights Out, lol.

 

[jploria116]

They may not go in if the coop is dark, it's scary because they can't see into the interior. Even a small night light could help, and once they're settled you can turn it off. They won't sleep if it's brightly lit all night. As Mrs. K said, young birds tend to stay up later than their older sisters, gotta get that one last bug before Lights Out, lol.

They’re all the same age… gonna try these solar Amazon lights otherwise I’ll run a cord and add a timer with a light on it. This is only temporary? Eventually I can remove the lights and they’ll figure it out? What happens in the fall when it gets darker earlier?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

They’re all the same age… gonna try these solar Amazon lights otherwise I’ll run a cord and add a timer with a light on it. This is only temporary? Eventually I can remove the lights and they’ll figure it out? What happens in the fall when it gets darker earlier?

We have six chicks about the same age as yours. We also have a flock of 24 birds ranging from one to three years. Every night the older birds put themselves to bed almost a full hour before the babies are ready to call it a night. This happens every year whenever we have older and younger birds. The kids always want to stay up late and "party hearty," lol.

I would say yes, it's probably temporary. They'll get into a habit or routine of putting themselves to bed at dusk or a little later, and the older they get, the earlier bedtime will be.

In the fall they will still go to bed when it gets dark. So ... yes, much earlier!

 

[AlaskanLion]

I have a light on in the coop for about an hour past dark (on a timer), they follow the light.

 

[6chicksinCT]

My birds are all 10 week old buff orpingtons. They don't go back into the coop either they all just pule on top of one another in a secure dark corner of the run. The run is predator proof but I would think come fall and winter it will be cold if this is their set pattern. I too have a light on in the shed which is where their coop is. They could care less about following the light. Every night so far when it is dark and they are too sleep to run feom me I put them back through the door into their coop, but I don't want this to be my pattern either. I think I'm just going to try chucking meal worms up the ramp and into the coop to see if they follow the treats. Fingers crossed!