Welcome to BYC. If you put your general location into your profile people can give better-targeted advice. Climate matters.
Can you show us photos of your setup?
Some common problems with chickens not going into the coop include:
- It"s not dark yet so they're not ready to go to roost.
- The coop is dark inside so they can't see to get to their roosts.
- The coop lacks sufficient ventilation so it's hot, stuffy, and uncomfortable in there.
- There are roosting places in the run that are higher than the roost in the coop.
- They're babies and just haven't learned what to do yet.
Excellent list. I'll add one more. Other birds may be bullying the younger birds and won't let them come in or stay in. Especially older birds. Doesn't sound like your case but I'll mention it. We really don't know what you are working with.
I read all the time on here that if you lock them in the coop for a while they will always go into the coop on their own. It doesn't work that way with mine. I've left them locked in the coop for up to 10 days and they still gather in a pile under the pop door when it gets dark. This is whether they are five weeks old or eight. By that age they can easily fly up to the pop door if they want to, they don't need to use the steps. When they do go up on their own maybe a third of them fly anyway. It's not a case of them not being able to go up, it's a case of want to.
My chicks typically don't sleep on the roosts at night until they are maybe 10 to 12 weeks old. Until then they sleep in a group on the coop floor. That might be part of my problem. Until mine are ready to sleep on the roosts at night they seem to like to sleep in a pile in a low spot, like they'd sleep on the ground under a broody hen. Or it may just be what my coop and roosts look like. Once they learn to go in they sleep on the coop floor.
In any case I regularly have to put them in the coop at night until they learn to go in on their own. Sometimes that's just one or two nights, a couple of times it took 3 weeks for the last to learn to go in on their own. My broods are typically about 20 chicks.
How many chicks do you have and how old are they? I assume they are breeds that can fly. Some, like Silkies, can't fly so they have to use a ramp or steps. Photos showing what your coop and run look like could could be helpful. The ramp, general height, things like that. Also, photos of the inside of your coop, especially showing the roosts.
How much light do you have in the run at night? Security lights or street lights can keep it pretty light outside while the coop gets too dark for them to see to go to bed. How much light do you have in the coop? Windows may let in enough light, mine do, but some people have had success by putting a small light in the coop so they can see to go to bed. Maybe one of those glow lights or a small LED light.
Have you trained them to come to your call yet? If you use the same bucket to give them treats and rattle the treats in the bucket and maybe say "Here, chicky chick" as you give them treats they can learn to come to you. Maybe use that to lure them into the coop shortly before dark and then lock them in. Or scatter treats on the ramp so they learn to follow it up.
Without knowing what you are working with that's all I have to offer. Good luck!
