I have five 6-8 week old barred rocks that I moved from the brooder to the grow out coop about a week ago. They are doing great but at night they will not climb their ramp and go inside the coop. Thy lay in the run every night until I go out and pick them up and stick them in the coop and then they go to sleep at stay there until morning. My question is how can I convince these rascals to go in on their own? My last set did the same thing and never slept in the coop. Once they got t the laying pen they followed the others and went in every night but id feel a lot better about them staying inside the coop at night.
Hard Headed Chickens
- Thread starter Josh0625
- Start date
Put them in the coop for three days. It kind of teaches them that this is your home now. I did that with mine and never had a problem. Or you could keep putting them in at the time you want them to go in at-did this too. Took longer than three days but in the end it worked! Good luck!
Remember chickens have tiny little brains that sometimes just don't work the way we want them to. Combined with yours being "teenagers", means they can be a little thick headed. Abriana shared the same thing I would. I'd lock them inside the coop for 5 days to be sure. And when you eventually release them, don't "take" them out... just open the door and let them find their way out on their own. They'll tend to go back from whence they came as night falls (generally).
More info about your coop please? Exact size of coop L x W x H, how high are the roosts? How many birds? Any windows? What is your general location and your typical day time and night time temps? How much ventilation in this coop?
Training is needed for them to use a ramp..I use a long stick to herd them up the ramp..Then all I say is bedtime and up they go or they go in before I ever arrive..Having a pop door helps so you can lock them in at night.
Yours are behaving exactly like mine always do, whether I lock them in the coop only for a week or more or immediately give them access to the run. Since you mention ramp I’m assuming yours is an elevated coop, not one at ground level. I usually don’t have these issues with a ground level coop.
I used to move mine from the brooder to my grow-out coop at 5 weeks and leave them locked in the coop for a week to a week and a half before opening the pop door and letting them go to the run whenever they wanted to. Sometimes it would take 15 minutes for all of them to hit the ground, sometimes three days. It did not bother me either way. Then I switched to leaving the pop door open from the start since it didn’t seem to make any difference.
No matter how I go about it, the first night they all go to sleep on the ground, usually right under the pop door. So after it is dark enough I pop them in the coop and lock them inside. A couple of times it only took once for them to all learn to go in on their own. A couple of times it has taken three weeks of being consistent for them to all learn. No two broods are the same. I normally have a brood between 15 and 25 chicks. Usually a few start going in on their own after two or three nights with a few more joining them as time progresses. Often they have all learned by about a week but as I said, some have taken three.
People seem to like to think that each chicken is the same and that each set-up is the same or that set-up doesn’t make any difference. I don’t think that way at all. I consider each chicken unique and our set-ups and management techniques unique. We are all going to get different results because of that. My suggestion is to keep doing what you are doing, move them into the coop each night until they catch on.
If you can post photos of your coop we might see something that can help. I assume you have a window in that coop to let light in. Sometimes the coop is so dark that by the time it gets dark enough outside to tell them to go to bed it’s too dark in the coop for them to see to go to bed. Things like that.
My brooder-raised chicks typically don’t move to the roosts until they are around 10 to 12 weeks of age. I’ve had some start to roost as early as 5-1/2 weeks, I’ve had some not start to roost until four months, as I said each brood is different. My grow-out coop probably looks a lot different from yours too, that can have an effect on when they start sleeping on the roosts at night.
I don’t see anything unusual at all about what you describe, it’s pretty much what I expect with mine. Just be consistent with putting them in and night and be patient. They will eventually catch on.
One story about this. One time I had a brood of about 16 chicks. I locked them in the coop section for a week before I let them in the run. The first night I had to put them all in the coop as always. The second night I went down there to do something else in the area and they saw me coming. They had started to gather under the pop door but when they saw me they started going in on their own. I just stood and watched. They all went in that night and every night after without me being around. I tried to duplicate that again with later broods but it never worked again. As I said each brood is different.
I used to move mine from the brooder to my grow-out coop at 5 weeks and leave them locked in the coop for a week to a week and a half before opening the pop door and letting them go to the run whenever they wanted to. Sometimes it would take 15 minutes for all of them to hit the ground, sometimes three days. It did not bother me either way. Then I switched to leaving the pop door open from the start since it didn’t seem to make any difference.
No matter how I go about it, the first night they all go to sleep on the ground, usually right under the pop door. So after it is dark enough I pop them in the coop and lock them inside. A couple of times it only took once for them to all learn to go in on their own. A couple of times it has taken three weeks of being consistent for them to all learn. No two broods are the same. I normally have a brood between 15 and 25 chicks. Usually a few start going in on their own after two or three nights with a few more joining them as time progresses. Often they have all learned by about a week but as I said, some have taken three.
People seem to like to think that each chicken is the same and that each set-up is the same or that set-up doesn’t make any difference. I don’t think that way at all. I consider each chicken unique and our set-ups and management techniques unique. We are all going to get different results because of that. My suggestion is to keep doing what you are doing, move them into the coop each night until they catch on.
If you can post photos of your coop we might see something that can help. I assume you have a window in that coop to let light in. Sometimes the coop is so dark that by the time it gets dark enough outside to tell them to go to bed it’s too dark in the coop for them to see to go to bed. Things like that.
My brooder-raised chicks typically don’t move to the roosts until they are around 10 to 12 weeks of age. I’ve had some start to roost as early as 5-1/2 weeks, I’ve had some not start to roost until four months, as I said each brood is different. My grow-out coop probably looks a lot different from yours too, that can have an effect on when they start sleeping on the roosts at night.
I don’t see anything unusual at all about what you describe, it’s pretty much what I expect with mine. Just be consistent with putting them in and night and be patient. They will eventually catch on.
One story about this. One time I had a brood of about 16 chicks. I locked them in the coop section for a week before I let them in the run. The first night I had to put them all in the coop as always. The second night I went down there to do something else in the area and they saw me coming. They had started to gather under the pop door but when they saw me they started going in on their own. I just stood and watched. They all went in that night and every night after without me being around. I tried to duplicate that again with later broods but it never worked again. As I said each brood is different.
- Thread starter
- #7
Yes I have plenty of ventilation and 2 windows and my set up is exactly like my laying coop other than its about half the size. Don't have exact measurements with me at work but I've had 3 sets in this coop now and first set never did and the third set seems to be going the same direction. I have done all 3 the exact same way. They are strange critters. I am continuing to put them inside every night and hopefully they will catch on.
- Thread starter
- #8
This is what I've done as well but I don't lock them in. Once they are in they stay all night just cant convince them to go on their own.
- Thread starter
- #9
My coop is fine its this set of birds that are hard headed. I know how to manage ventilation and temps as well. Just looking for tips to convince these rascals to go in on their own
Training ....
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