Getting pullets into main coop

[Shadrach]

It's been so long since I haven't had a mum to show the pullets home.
I used to do what @aart says and put them in with the rest at night.
Sometimes it took a few nights to get them settled but I found it worked.

 

[Mrs. K]

I shut the pullet's coop up, during the day. Then head down there just before night, encourage them to enter the coop, lock them in. Let them out, one or two nights, and they will go in on their own as long as you leave the pullets place locked up.

 

[geepers6]

Questions that immediately comes to mind is how big is your main coop and how are the roosts laid out. That will determine how much the younger ones are traumatized. The older ones will be OK.

The way I go about that is to toss the pullets in the main coop after dark and lock them in there. I don't worry about putting them on the roosts, I just put them on the coop floor. They can work out where they sleep without my further input. They will manage that anyway. I lock the old coop up so they can't go back in there. Sometimes I only have to do that once and they make the switch on their own, sometimes I have to collect them at dark and put them in the main coop for several days. Mine try to sleep in the immediate vicinity of their old coop until they make that switch. Each morning I'm down there at the crack of dawn to open the pop door so they can get away from the adults if they need to. Usually just once or twice is all I do that before I'm convinced they will be OK if I sleep in a bit. How big your main coop is and how it is laid out inside can have a big influence on that.

Mine usually don't sleep on the main roosts with the adults until they mature more, usually about the time they start laying. There are exceptions but generally they look for a safe place to sleep where the older ones don't beat them up. That can be anywhere in your coop, on the floor, on something in there, or on or in your nests. You won't know where until they show you. I do this a few times a year. Sometimes it was in the nests but usually it wasn't. It was more likely on top of my nests or in a certain corner of the coop floor. But it was my nests often enough that I put a juvenile roost lower than my main roosts, separated horizontally by a few feet, and higher than my nests. That pretty much solved that problem.

If your coop is so small they can't get somewhere they feel safe from the older hens they may be hard to train to go in that coop at night. If the coop is big enough and laid out in a way they can get to a safe place it should be pretty easy.

If your coop is big enough that you can build a pen bigger than that Eglu you can lock them in there for a few days and nights. That should do the trick. After three or four days just let them out and see what they do at night.

Good luck, always different ways to approach it.

Thank you. I went out and opened both doors of the big coop today and the young birds were going in and out. They don't seem too intimidated by the 2 big girls. I'll pop them in tonight and see what happens.

 

[geepers6]

Thank you. All these ideas are very helpful. Tonight we will deliver them to the big coop and hope,for the best. I'm the chicken in this scenario.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Good luck!

 

[geepers6]

It's 7:50 pm. They're in the big coop. Some on roosts. Had to hand deliver only 3 of them. Fingers crossed. I'll open the coop at dawn.

 

[geepers6]

This worked out very well. Two nights and the girls are on the roosts. Thanks again.

 

[donnavee]

Questions that immediately comes to mind is how big is your main coop and how are the roosts laid out. That will determine how much the younger ones are traumatized. The older ones will be OK.

The way I go about that is to toss the pullets in the main coop after dark and lock them in there. I don't worry about putting them on the roosts, I just put them on the coop floor. They can work out where they sleep without my further input. They will manage that anyway. I lock the old coop up so they can't go back in there. Sometimes I only have to do that once and they make the switch on their own, sometimes I have to collect them at dark and put them in the main coop for several days. Mine try to sleep in the immediate vicinity of their old coop until they make that switch. Each morning I'm down there at the crack of dawn to open the pop door so they can get away from the adults if they need to. Usually just once or twice is all I do that before I'm convinced they will be OK if I sleep in a bit. How big your main coop is and how it is laid out inside can have a big influence on that.

Mine usually don't sleep on the main roosts with the adults until they mature more, usually about the time they start laying. There are exceptions but generally they look for a safe place to sleep where the older ones don't beat them up. That can be anywhere in your coop, on the floor, on something in there, or on or in your nests. You won't know where until they show you. I do this a few times a year. Sometimes it was in the nests but usually it wasn't. It was more likely on top of my nests or in a certain corner of the coop floor. But it was my nests often enough that I put a juvenile roost lower than my main roosts, separated horizontally by a few feet, and higher than my nests. That pretty much solved that problem.

If your coop is so small they can't get somewhere they feel safe from the older hens they may be hard to train to go in that coop at night. If the coop is big enough and laid out in a way they can get to a safe place it should be pretty easy.

If your coop is big enough that you can build a pen bigger than that Eglu you can lock them in there for a few days and nights. That should do the trick. After three or four days just let them out and see what they do at night.

Good luck, always different ways to approach it.

I started looking at this thread because I'm going through the same thing - trying to integrate some young girls with older. I appreciate this suggestion as I have tried putting them on a roost but they don't stay. I'll go with letting them sleep where they want for now. It's a big coop so plenty of room. They all free range together during the day, but bedtime is entirely different.

 

[geepers6]

For me they key was letting the girls figure it out. Everyone's comments helped me do that. I hope you have the same success.