getting them back in the coop

[delfargo]

my 5 week olds have finally been getting some quality outdoor time (i got behind on finishing my outdoor fenced-in area due to a bad back) and they are lovin' it. so much so that they don't want to come back in at dusk, when i want to put them in for the night. any BYC secrets on how to corral the chicks, as they are really hard to catch when they don't wanna be caught, ya know?
butterfly nets? border collie? mind controll? pretend i'm a big fox? any tips would be appriciated. thanx.

 

[kmwright]

I like mind control.

I usually catch one and put her in, and the others will follow. Or you could use treats, they're pretty food motivated, ha ha.

 

[theFox]

You need rooster lessons then you can convince them to go back to their coop to roost.

 

[oldchickenlady]

Yeah, get them something they reaaaallly like (watermelon? scratch?) and use it every night at bed time. Mine come running to see what I have every night. Even if they are already in their run (I just started building their coop today) they will come running towards the house when I come outside to close their gate. Then they will follow me all the way back. I will feed them and sit with them awhile before locking them in for the night.

 

[pontoosuc]

quite by accident I used a small white plastic container, I think it was an insert to one of the coolers we had.
put it upside down in the brooder and put some white millet on it as a treat. when the chicks figured out what
it was, and how good it was, they started going after it like crazy making what sounds like popcorn popping for
lack of a better description.

now, whenever I want them back in the coop I put out the plastic container and a little bit of white millet on top.
usually the sound of me putting the seeds out gets at least one or two back in and then once the pecking sound
starts they all run inside!

but if you solve the mind control thing, please let us know!

 

[noodleroo]

When I want mine in the coop (besides bedtime-they go in by themselves for that), I smush up a boiled egg into unrecognizable pieces, put it in the run part of the tractor and say "Chick-Chick-CHICkens!". And I don't stand in front of the door when I say it lest I be trampeled to death....