Getting my chickens to sleep in coop

[Ama201]

I have four older chickens and 12 ( 12 week ) old chickens, how can I have them sleep in coop at night and but in the dog crate where they’ve been since day 1? I don’t want to stress them out but they need to sleep in coop

 

[azygous]

You need to be the "chicken mama" and teach them to roost in the coop.

Is the crate in the run or have the chicks already been living in the coop inside the crate? Have they had any freedom to explore the run and also the coop without being encased in a crate?

 

[chickens really]

If the birds already know each other I'd remove the crate and lock them in the Coop once the sun starts going down so they Roost up for the night. You can provide a spot with straw on the floor in case they all want to cuddle up before they learn to Roost.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Tell us more about your conditions. How big, in feet or meters, is your coop? How big is your run? What do the roosts look like inside the coop? Where has that dog crate been kept relative to the main coop/run? Have they been able to see each other? How big is that dog crate? Basically, what are you working with? Some photos might be a big help.

Many of us have chicks much younger than that sleeping in the main coop with the adults but our conditions and management techniques are different from yours. The more you can tell us about your situation the more likely we can make specific recommendations that fit your unique situation.

In general, chicks that age are usually afraid of the adults and try to avoid them, day and night. They need a way to avoid the adults when they are sleeping in there. They are also in the habit of sleeping somewhere else, you need to break them of that habit. How you manage that will depend on what you have to work with.

My goals in this situation are that no one gets hurt, they do not sleep in the nests, and that they sleep somewhere predator safe. This time of the year sleeping out of the weather also becomes a goal.

 

[Ama201]

You need to be the "chicken mama" and teach them to roost in the coop.

Is the crate in the run or have the chicks already been living in the coop inside the crate? Have they had any freedom to explore the run and also the coop without being encased in a crate?

They get to have freedom with the other chickens all day... at night they go to the crate which is set up in our shed not the coop bc that’s where they’ve been comfortable. But it’s time they sleep in coop..

 

[Ama201]

Tell us more about your conditions. How big, in feet or meters, is your coop? How big is your run? What do the roosts look like inside the coop? Where has that dog crate been kept relative to the main coop/run? Have they been able to see each other? How big is that dog crate? Basically, what are you working with? Some photos might be a big help.

Many of us have chicks much younger than that sleeping in the main coop with the adults but our conditions and management techniques are different from yours. The more you can tell us about your situation the more likely we can make specific recommendations that fit your unique situation.

In general, chicks that age are usually afraid of the adults and try to avoid them, day and night. They need a way to avoid the adults when they are sleeping in there. They are also in the habit of sleeping somewhere else, you need to break them of that habit. How you manage that will depend on what you have to work with.

My goals in this situation are that no one gets hurt, they do not sleep in the nests, and that they sleep somewhere predator safe. This time of the year sleeping out of the weather also becomes a goal.

Ok- so..they’ve been in the dog crate since they were 1 week old. They get along with our 4 older chickens but at night we have the crate in our shed ( with the doors opened) so they go in there bc we are t sure what to do! Our 4 big ones go in the coop at night and in the morning all 12 are set to free range...

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'd suggest you lock that shed so they cannot get into there at night. They will probably want to sleep in that old area but after dark when it is easy to catch them lock them in the coop for the night. When I do that (and I sometimes do after they have ranged together during the day for a few weeks) I just toss them on the coop floor and let them worry about where to seep. They figure something out. Then be down there the first thing in the morning to open the coop door and let them out. They may catch on really quickly or it may take a while. Just try to be consistent.

My coop is pretty large and has a lot of hiding places. After mine have been ranging together for a few weeks I don't have any issues doing this. I don't know what your coop looks like. I don't know how big it is or anything like that. When I go down there in the morning it's pretty normal for the young ones to be up on the roosts out of the way of the adults. Mine can do that and get out of the way of the adults. I don't know if yours can. But after a few mornings of letting them out early you should have a good feel for how it is going.