Help! Introducing chicks into new coop

[ChickenGram]

Hi all!

I really need some advice as I’m so stuck on what to do with my 3 chicks!

I’ve bought a new coop and introduced my chickens to it while still inside the house. They were previously in a cardboard box, occasionally letting them roam around the house. They’re almost 8 weeks old and I’ve only just taken the coop and chicks outside.

My problem is that they don’t know or are too scared to use the ramp to go up to the roosting box to sleep. I tried to bribe them with some oats leading up the ramp but it’s not catching on. They love the oats but didn’t stay up the top!

I’ve also tried keeping their food and water up the top so they go looking when they’re hungry. They’re familiar with being in both areas of the coop but I don’t know how to teach them to be independent.

Not sure what else to do, some advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[SueT]

Lock them inside the coop overnight. Open the door in the morning, letting them find their way down the ramp. Once they feel the coop is their home, they will learn how to get back in.

 

[ChickenGram]

Lock them inside the coop overnight. Open the door in the morning, letting them find their way down the ramp. Once they feel the coop is their home, they will learn how to get back in.

Thanks for your reply! Should I put their feed and water down the bottom as well to encourage them to go down?

 

[Ridgerunner]

What I envision you to have is a small elevated coop in a fairly small enclosed run. It's probably not that different from my grow-out coop/run area in general but I bet my 4' x 8' coop and 8' x 12' run are bigger. I typically put my chickens in this area at 5 weeks. My broods are usually around 20 chicks, not your three. We do have our differences.

Until chicks are ready to roost they tend to sleep in a group in a fairly low spot. Usually with mine that is in the run instead of the coop until I train them to go into the coop on their own. The behavior you are describing is really familiar, whether I lock mine in the coop section only for a week or just give them access to the entire coop/run area to start with. I've done both.

I've had chicks take to the roosts on their own at 5-1/2 weeks of age but that is rare. I've had some wait 4 months, also rare. The average for mine is 10 to 12 weeks but each brood is different. Different coop/run set-ups can influence this.

But that is just about spending the nights on the roosts. What you are after right now is to get them to sleep in the coop. The way I train mine is to wait until it is getting dark and they have settled in for the night. They are pretty easy to catch if it is dark. So I put them in the coop section and lock them in for the night. One brood I only had to do this once and all 17 put themselves to bed on the coop floor the next night and after. One brood it took three weeks of doing that every night until the last three finally gave up the fight and put themselves to bed. Typically it takes me a week or so before they all get the message but as I said, each brood is different. When I lock them in the coop section for a week they tend to get the message sooner but they still try to sleep in the run.

When I lock them in the coop section for a week before I open the pop door they are often reluctant to go to the run. I've had some broods where every chick was in the run within 15 minutes of me opening the pop door. I've had some broods where it took three days before the first one built up the courage to hop down into the run and he was back in the coop within five minutes. To me watching them go to the pop door, look out, and back away is hilarious. It's part of what makes chick TV better than anything on cable, dish, or antenna.

At five weeks many of mine ignore a ramp, they just fly up to the pop door or fly down. At 8 weeks you don't even have to have the ramp unless you have Silkies that can't fly. It's not a case of whether they can use the ramp or just fly, it's a case of whether they want to.

Some people like to micromanage their chickens or stress if their chickens don't do what they think they are supposed to at some scheduled age. I'm a lot more relaxed about that, letting them pick their own pace to do a lot of this stuff. I'm not going to be silly about that though, mine are locked in the coop at night as protection against predators.

 

[Mrs. K]

They are homing on the cardboard box. That can make this easy.

Put the cardboard box on its side in the run. They will go to it as it gets dark and huddle up to sleep. At that time, pick up the box and put it into the coop. Leaving the door to the run open or getting up in the morning and opening it then. Leave the water and feed in the run.

Leave them to figure it out on their own terms how to get down into the run. Don't try and help them see it, that just makes them panic, and nothing can think well when scared.

In the afternoon, put the box down again and repeat. The next day, leave the cardboard box in the coop. I bet they will get to the box in the coop by themselves. Eventually they will outgrow the box, and start to roost on their own. It is best not to help them, but let them do it themselves.

Mrs K