Hen squawking at night and wanting out of coop

[kcruz]

One of my 6 week old hens made a ruckus tonight and didn't want to calm down. They were in their covered run today while it stormed and rained and tonight when I went out to put them in the coop, one of them was running back and forth and peeping and squawking...i checked her for injuries, food and water were okay and she was dry. Put her and the other hen in the coop with water and some food sprinkled for pecking but she still won't stop complaining. Now my question. Should I lock them in the coop or leave access to covered run tonight? It's supposed to storm and rain some more. I am new to this and don't want to make mistakes

 

[Mtnboomer]

Chickens cant see at night and are sitting ducks to predators. Leave her in the coop. She will calm down eventually.
Also, chickens can get nervous and raise a ruckus when predators are about. If you live in a predator prone area, be sure your coop and run are secure. If not typically a concern, it could have been a stray cat, mouse/rat, etc that startled her or even the coming storm.

 

[kcruz]

Chickens cant see at night and are sitting ducks to predators. Leave her in the coop. She will calm down eventually.
Also, chickens can get nervous and raise a ruckus when predators are about. If you live in a predator prone area, be sure your coop and run are secure. If not typically a concern, it could have been a stray cat, mouse/rat, etc that startled her or even the coming storm.

Thank you!

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Has she laid an egg today? I only ask because sometimes one of my pullets will act crazy at night and I finally figured out that she needed to lay but it was too dark in her nest box (I suspect as she couldn't tell me the exact reason). I brought her inside and locked her in a dog crate in a dim room. Once she laid, she was back to normal.

Edited: I missed her age in your initial post My apologies

 

[kcruz]

Has she laid an egg today? I only ask because sometimes one of my pullets will act crazy at night and I finally figured out that she needed to lay but it was too dark in her nest box (I suspect as she couldn't tell me the exact reason). I brought her inside and locked her in a dog crate in a dim room. Once she laid, she was back to normal.

Mine don't lay yet, they are only 6 weeks old

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Mine don't lay yet, they are only 6 weeks old

Well that is definitely not the reason here . Hopefully she'll settle down or already has settled down. Was it right before or right at dark? I've had young ones that get really anxious at dark. It's a shame they can't tell us.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Was she moved into the coop only recently? Young birds can get very upset moving from brooder to coop, so best thing to do is put them in, shut the door, and walk away.

 

[kcruz]

Well that is definitely not the reason here . Hopefully she'll settle down or already has settled down. Was it right before or right at dark? I've had young ones that get really anxious at dark. It's a shame they can't tell us.

Yes it was right before dark and it was only her second night in the coop so maybe she was nervous. Because it was pouring buckets all day we weren't able to go and sit and chat with them yesterday so maybe she felt abandoned

 

[kcruz]

Was she moved into the coop only recently? Young birds can get very upset moving from brooder to coop, so best thing to do is put them in, shut the door, and walk away.

Yes this was only her second night and we didn't interact with her during the day like we normally do because it was pouring rain. I checked again a couple hours after closing the coop and she had quieted down.

 

[kcruz]

Update: Tonight my hens happily went into the coop by themselves at nightfall. I have some dim fairy lights in there with a timer and like to think the light guided them into their cozy coop