I have 3 buff orpingtons 2 light brahmas and 10 meat birds all 5 weeks old. i open the door in the morning and all the pure breeds and one meat bird come out. at the heat of the day i put all the birds out so they can get under the coop to stay cool, but at night the meat birds wont go in, then the pure breeds feel safe with the big birds and wont go inside. How can i get them to go inside at night?
Make sure they only have food and water inside the coop. Bring them a special snack just before sundown and put it in the coop. Food is a really great motivator. If they are really difficult bring them a snack in a bucket and give them a little outside for a day or two. After that bring the snack in the bucket and put it in the coop. They will associate the bucket with food and sundown with snack time. That is my best suggestion.
Whenever I feed my chickens I call them. They start to know that when I call they will get fed and I only feed them in the cage. Mine are so used to this that they will come running from the other side of the yard when I call. Might take a while but it works great. Tink
