Getting my Chickens to go into the coop at night???

[papastock12]

Hello, I just joined BYC, my main reason for joining was to try and get some more ideas to solve my problem. My chickens are 9 weeks old, I recently moved them into their "permanent coop" about 2 1/2 weeks ago. They still are not going into the coop come night time, I find them cuddled up in the corner of the run. Iv tried most of the "tricks" that iv found on the web like (food and water inside the coop, leaving a light on, and also keeping them locked up for a week). Im not concerned about their safety because they are in an enclosed run but I have spent a lot of time building them this "penthouse of a chicken coop" as I like to call it lol, and their not using it as id hope. Can anyone please help me out?!?!

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Welcome to the forum. I see this question ALL THE TIME. I promise, you are not alone.

Just keep putting them in it every night and eventually they'll catch on. As a last resort, you can try giving them a bedtime snack to lure them up and get them into the routine (something high value like mealworms). I put a small bowl of them in the coop, sprinkling a few on the ramp as I did so, every night for about a week. It took them awhile longer to not puppy pile in the stupid doorway and block their flockmates out, but they all caught on quickly enough.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

X2 on the advice given by HighStreetCoop ^. You may just have to keep them in the coop until they realize that is where home is. Also chickens are creatures of habit so if you can get them in the routine of going into the coop each night (place each of them in the coop at night) then they should continue by themselves soon.

 

[N F C]

Welcome to BYC!

Good luck on getting your chickens into their roosts at night.

Nice to have you join us!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! You've gotten some good suggestions above, chickens can be silly at times. You might also want to post a picture of your coop, somebody might have an idea to make the girls more willing to go in. www.backyardchickens.com/f/9/coop-amp-run-design-construction-amp-maintenance

 

[sunflour]

glad you joined us.

If you could post a pic of inside the coop and include the roosts, you may get more specific input.

 

[drumstick diva]

If we could see a photo of your coop, ramp etc. we could offer better suggestions. You might try a small light on timer. Chickens are afraid to go into dark places. If the light is on they may go in on their own. Timer could be set to go off in 20 minutes or so.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!