Help!! My Silkie Chickens will not go into their coop at night!

[lps1215]

I have 7 Silkie juveniles that are around 11 weeks old may be a little older. I had them in a walk in coop up until I added a new trio of 8 week old seramas in there. I moved them into a coop that is a roost and nest boxes on top with a pull out bottom to clean it and the run area is underneath it with acess to the ground. There is a ladder for them to get up to roost at night. Well needless to say they are NOT using the ladder and I have no acess to them because there is not a door in the bottom run. I have no idea what to do-to try to make them go up the ladder. The other two adult hens I have use the ladder and I was hoping they would learn from them but I moved them Friday June 26th and they are still not using it. I had to pull out the bottom to the top where roost and nest boxes are just for me to give them access to food and water. I can attach pictures if that would help. I'm so worried!!

 

[Juju2773]

I’m not sure in your case this would work because yours are not used to using a ladder from the start, but I had the same problem. My young ones would not go in the coop at night. I had to physically put each one through the coop door at night for over a week. Kind of walking them up the ladder while holding them so they’d hopefully ...get it. I eventually realized it was because the coop was too dark inside and they couldn’t see once they got in. I resolved the problem by using a camping lantern.! I hang it on a hook inside at around 6:30 pm. On a full charge it lasts about 2 1/2 hours before going out on its on. I love it! I bring it inside each morning and plug it in to charge. Perfect. They started to notice the light inside as it got darker out and naturally tried to fly up to the coop door. They’re still learning to use the ladder. They mostly fly up to the top step, then go inside.

 

[lps1215]

Thank you so much. I just put a small light in there because it is pretty dark during the day. There are small windows cut out with chicken wire over it so the chickens can see but I think it may be harder for them to see because these were supposed to be SQ silkies and they have lots of hair around their eyes and face. I'm ordering a latern like yours off of amazon so maybe this will work! If not I will have to find a way to reach down and grab them and move them into the walk in coop with my seramas.

 

[Juju2773]

Thank you so much. I just put a small light in there because it is pretty dark during the day. There are small windows cut out with chicken wire over it so the chickens can see but I think it may be harder for them to see because these were supposed to be SQ silkies and they have lots of hair around their eyes and face. I'm ordering a latern like yours off of amazon so maybe this will work! If not I will have to find a way to reach down and grab them and move them into the walk in coop with my seramas.

If you got the same lantern as mine just be sure to turn it to the right/ the bright side, so it’ll go off in about 2 1/2 hours, if you turn the knob to the left side it’s a lower light but it’ll last twice as long . I want mine to get sleep so the bright side lasts the perfect amount of time for them to all get in and get settled on their roosts before it’ll shut off. It wasn’t immediate though, but it didn’t take long and it definitely made the difference. My chickens seem to enjoy the light being on inside and now some will go in the minute they see me come and hang it. Hope it helps you.

 

[Juju2773]

I have 7 Silkie juveniles that are around 11 weeks old may be a little older. I had them in a walk in coop up until I added a new trio of 8 week old seramas in there. I moved them into a coop that is a roost and nest boxes on top with a pull out bottom to clean it and the run area is underneath it with acess to the ground. There is a ladder for them to get up to roost at night. Well needless to say they are NOT using the ladder and I have no acess to them because there is not a door in the bottom run. I have no idea what to do-to try to make them go up the ladder. The other two adult hens I have use the ladder and I was hoping they would learn from them but I moved them Friday June 26th and they are still not using it. I had to pull out the bottom to the top where roost and nest boxes are just for me to give them access to food and water. I can attach pictures if that would help. I'm so worried!!

Hi,
I’m just wondering if the lantern helped at all?

 

[lps1215]

Hi,
I’m just wondering if the lantern helped at all?

Well I left them in there for another week, turning the lamp on every night an hour before dark and they would never go up the ramp into the coop. Then one of my older hens got into a fight with one of the silkies and pulled out her tail feathers so I removed all my silkies and put them in my walk-in coop with a huge roost and they are still laying on the ground I'm going to wait until they mature a few more months before I try again. It was so aggravating feeding and watering them because the bottom ground part where they would stay doesn't have a door so I would have to pull out the floor of the roost that slides out for easy cleaning-to just feed and water. & It's super hot here so I figured I would wait and stick them in the roost part and make them figure it out when it cools off. The heat index here was 107° yesterday. I have a box fan in my walk in coop and they are loving every minute of it! Thank you for checking back in. It'll probably be another 3-4 months before it cools off here. Also I may be getting rid of roosters if I have over two in the group of the seven silkies I purchased so it's just easier having them where I can actually get to them. They are 14 weeks old and I still have no idea about the sexes of them

 

[Juju2773]

Well I left them in there for another week, turning the lamp on every night an hour before dark and they would never go up the ramp into the coop. Then one of my older hens got into a fight with one of the silkies and pulled out her tail feathers so I removed all my silkies and put them in my walk-in coop with a huge roost and they are still laying on the ground I'm going to wait until they mature a few more months before I try again. It was so aggravating feeding and watering them because the bottom ground part where they would stay doesn't have a door so I would have to pull out the floor of the roost that slides out for easy cleaning-to just feed and water. & It's super hot here so I figured I would wait and stick them in the roost part and make them figure it out when it cools off. The heat index here was 107° yesterday. I have a box fan in my walk in coop and they are loving every minute of it! Thank you for checking back in. It'll probably be another 3-4 months before it cools off here. Also I may be getting rid of roosters if I have over two in the group of the seven silkies I purchased so it's just easier having them where I can actually get to them. They are 14 weeks old and I still have no idea about the sexes of them

Thanks for responding. It sounds like you’ve got your hands full. Haha. But I’ve read if you keep them inside of the coop you want them in for up to 3 days then, finally open the entry to the outside run ... then they will have time to feel the inside is their home. It sounds like if you are able it would be best to try to build a small door for access to that bottom part from the outside. I had to do that to mine because it was so hard to get under there for adding wood chips, cleaning, etc. that little door is a life saver. Anyways... good luck with your little silkies.