Help needed. New chickens not going into new coop at night. Airlifting 36 chickens is exhausting!

[aart]

Has anyone used one of those as well?

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I will check with the certifiers and hopefully that will be the case.

Have they inspected your place yet?

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[Buffy Brahma Mama]

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Have they inspected your place yet?

Where in this world are you located?
Here's how to add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!
View attachment 2763145

https://jdmfg.com/product/jd360-destratifier/?application=recirculation-fans&application_cat=poultry

They haven't inspected this flock yet, just the other flock.

I'm in the Northeast US LOL : )

 

[kodster]

I have certainly tried to not lock them in and made every effort possible to just let them figure it out. I have about 10 of them that have figured it out at this point.

At this point it is a life safety issue for them. If I don't air lift them lol, they will get eaten. We have a ton of raccoons in the area, as well as the other night predators. My fence is a deterrent, but it will not stop anything that wants in from going over it. I am hoping they will understand that I've made every effort and will be ok with me shutting them in for a short time.

They'll not hate you for it. It IS a safety issue, and if you're truly serious about taking care of them, then it's incumbent on you to lock them in for the adjustment period. It's only temporary.

And whoever is doing the certification? I get it, OMRI standards require that organic means free-range, cage-free. However, you'll have NO free-range chickens if predators get to them. Do you lock them in at night, or leave the coop open to predators to get in at night, when the chickens are most vulnerable? How often do they come in to inspect and renew your certification? Up to one week to lock them in, to get the adjustment period done, I would think they would consider normal procedures. After that, then the 'only in extreme weather' would apply.

 

[MissE]

I have certainly tried to not lock them in and made every effort possible to just let them figure it out. I have about 10 of them that have figured it out at this point.

At this point it is a life safety issue for them. If I don't air lift them lol, they will get eaten. We have a ton of raccoons in the area, as well as the other night predators. My fence is a deterrent, but it will not stop anything that wants in from going over it. I am hoping they will understand that I've made every effort and will be ok with me shutting them in for a short time.

Chickens are like a flock of Karens. They will find something to complain about. Don't worry, they will get over it. When they ask to speak with the manager, ignore them.

 

[Mrs. K]

I would be very wary of locking in birds in high temperatures in poor ventilation. The birds themselves will produce a huge amount of heat, especially if they are required to roost close together. If you lock them in day and night - I think you could have dead birds. The daytime temperatures of a coop, without adequate ventilation and a large number of birds is going to skyrocket.

If you have 10 going in, you are almost there. Keep doing what you are doing, and the rest will follow.

As for the coons and electric fence... we had coons, put a board over the wire, grounded it, and had a hay day. They are incredibly smart.

Some roosters are good roosters, and some are not. Beware of too many roosters, as they get to fighting and forget the job of protecting the flock. If all of these are a one generational flock, you are about to have a wreck. They don't call it cock fighting for nothing.

Mrs K

 

[cincyfarmgirl]

Wondering if anyone out there might be able to assist.

I'm an organic farmer with a new beautiful flock of 36 pet chickens - an equal number of hens and roos.

I'm having an issue with the flock entering the coop at night - a beautiful coop with plenty of room, food, water and roost space.

The coop is built on a trailer and there is space below the coop, as well as space below the trailer that chickens can hide from predators during the day. I noticed they also use this space to hide from roos that want to mate, and roos who are a bit aggressive toward other roos.

We are going on 2 weeks now and I'm still needing to airlift them into the coop at night, as instead of going in the doors or up the ramps, they decide to roost underneath the coop on the trailer. It seems nice and dark and protected there, however, not from raccoons and other predators, when the sun goes down.

It's getting to be exhausting.

I heard that you should keep them confined in the coop for a while, so that they learn to go in at night, however, I am not allowed to keep them confined, unless there is extreme weather.

I've tried food and treats and they come out from the trailer for a bit, but then if I don't grab them, they go back under when it starts getting dark.

I've never had this issue before with a flock of hens. Could the roos be keeping them under?

The other thing I should mention, is that they got outside permanently to their new coop very late in the game - almost at the adult stage.

Advice needed on how to resolve this, to get some of my time back, and maintain my

That's a good idea to block it off. I only worry about hawks, as we have many that come by. They use the area under the coop and trailer to hide in, which helps a lot. Their lean to isn't built yet, but when it is, that will give them another place to hide.

They have a large free range area with a mobile fence. Soon they will be moved to an even larger area with many areas of cover, enrichment, etc. We can separate out the roos if over-breeding starts to happen.

The trailer is metal with a metal grate as the bottom, so they can grab it with their feet. I bet it feels like a roost to them, even though it's only a foot or so off the ground.

Block their ability to get under the trailer for several days as long as they have a pending area that should be safe from predators and then they’ll be forced to go in at night and it will become their habit. Why make the hens so uncomfortable that they have to hide? Get rid of most of the roosters.

 

[cincyfarmgirl]

Wondering if anyone out there might be able to assist.

I'm an organic farmer with a new beautiful flock of 36 pet chickens - an equal number of hens and roos.

I'm having an issue with the flock entering the coop at night - a beautiful coop with plenty of room, food, water and roost space.

The coop is built on a trailer and there is space below the coop, as well as space below the trailer that chickens can hide from predators during the day. I noticed they also use this space to hide from roos that want to mate, and roos who are a bit aggressive toward other roos.

We are going on 2 weeks now and I'm still needing to airlift them into the coop at night, as instead of going in the doors or up the ramps, they decide to roost underneath the coop on the trailer. It seems nice and dark and protected there, however, not from raccoons and other predators, when the sun goes down.

It's getting to be exhausting.

I heard that you should keep them confined in the coop for a while, so that they learn to go in at night, however, I am not allowed to keep them confined, unless there is extreme weather.

I've tried food and treats and they come out from the trailer for a bit, but then if I don't grab them, they go back under when it starts getting dark.

I've never had this issue before with a flock of hens. Could the roos be keeping them under?

The other thing I should mention, is that they got outside permanently to their new coop very late in the game - almost at the adult stage.

Advice needed on how to resolve this, to get some of my time back, and maintain my sanity! : )

Block off their access to underneath the trailer for several days. That is to say if they have a fenced area where they are safe from predators. So that they’ll create the habit of going inside the trailer. Turn a light on in the trailer they will be drawn toward the light. And get rid of all but one of those roosters. You don’t need that many roosters and if they’re making the hens so uncomfortable they have to go hide get rid of some. Plus they tear up the hens by mounting them.

 

[aart]

https://jdmfg.com/product/jd360-destratifier/?application=recirculation-fans&application_cat=poultry

All that will do is recirculate the air in the coop,
blowing hot and ammonia laden air back down to the floor level,
you need to change the air in the coop by bringing in fresh air from outside coop.
https://jdmfg.com/product/jd360-destratifier/?application=recirculation-fans&application_cat=poultry

They haven't inspected this flock yet, just the other flock.

I'm in the Northeast US LOL : )

Add it to your profile

 

[Chickenclaude]

I think you may be on to something! I have plenty of ventilation in the coop (two gable vents, plus soffit vents around the roof edges), but it has been hot recently, and I do notice them open mouth breathing a bit. My coop is a salt box with a high roof, but it still gets a bit warm, almost like an attic would. I think I will try a window fan for them. I'll need to install some predator proof screen on the window where I'll put it first, as we have raccoons, fisher, mink and bears that may break in.

I have solar lights I place in the windows for them, but I can add more to make it brighter for them.

In organic agriculture the regs are that you have to allow access to the outside daily, unless there is bad weather. : )

Within reason allow access. You are acclimating them to a new coop ..that’s different. When I introduced a new coop, I enclosed them for a week. Still left the old house accessible for 3 months and used a chicken trailer for outside access. Ventilation is difficult during hot weather. I solved that by cutting away a 15” strip under the roof on The siding (both sides)to allow a metal mesh strip that I screw into place and replace w plexiglass during winter. No windows..no problem.. Got a solar light for inside the house.
Eventually they used the new house exclusively..but...it was months ..all fall into winter. Good luck.

 

[saracarver3]

You aren’t allowed to keep them penned up for 3 days? That’s probably all you need. It took me a month to get my turkeys to accept roosting in the coop, so it will probably be soon now for your chickens as turkeys are more difficult with everything I feel! Try getting some worms or treats in a bag and shaking them in the coop right before sunset.