How do I get my babies to go in the coop at night??

[Jackschicks]

My 50 baby chicks are 6 weeks old today and were moved out to their new coop and run on Saturday. My problem is getting them to go into the coop at night. My adult chickens "put themselves to bed" at dark and all I have to do is close the door to their coop. How long before the babies learn to seek shelter at night? The coop is predator proof but the run itself is not, otherwise I would just wait until they figured it out. Chasing 50 chicks around every night is exhausting for me and stressful for the chicks.


Another question - My coop and run for the adult chickens is separate from the babies and I normally do not keep food or water in the adult coop, their food and water are kept outside in the run. The only time they are shut up in the coop is at night while they are sleeping. I wait until they are in the coop at night before closing the door and I let them out first thing in the morning. This seems to work fine for the adult chickens. Can I do the same with the chicks or is that too long for them to go without food and water?

 

[PorterPack]

I'm wondering the same thing..... I will be putting my chicks in the coop within a week or so and was wondering if I should put food/water in the coop or in the run. I'm a new chicken momma, so hopefully someone with more experience can give some advice....

 

[Mister B]

I didn't have 50 to chase, but chasing the 15 I had was tiring. Couple things to know: Can they easily get in and out of the coop? Mine is too high, they had trouble getting in. Out wasn't a problem, but in was trouble. I had a ramp, but it was too steep. They need an easy way to get in and out. If you have that, it'll only take a night or two to get them to do it theirselves, at least most of them. Another thing you could do is create a "catch pen". A few pieces of PVC and some bird netting. Make panels and herd them all to one end of the run. A few will get out, but it will be much easier to catch the majority of them.

 

[lazy gardener]

Jack: Initially, you'll need to put them in the coop every night, to train them to that. You might succeed by going out at dusk, and tossing a few handfuls of scratch into the coop to get them all in there. Then you can shut the door. Initially, if using scratch to lure them into the coop, I'd put some water in as well.

But, generally... chicks do not need food and water during the night. All birds that are NOT nocturnal seek shelter at night, and enter a state of decreased activity and awareness. This a self preservation behavior designed into their make-up to make them less prone to predator attack. When they are tucked away in a hidden spot and not moving, they are not as visible to predators. So, chicks do not need feed and water at night. But, if you leave them shut in until long after sun up, while they can adapt to that, that's not in their best interests. Sun up = time to eat!

When the weather is not freezing, I prefer to feed and water my flock outside of the coop. But, if wild birds were getting into the feed, I'd re-visit that option. My preference is not to have feed in the coop. This cuts down on rodent issues. I also use fermented feed. Therefore, generally, there is never any feed available to attract rodents.

 

[sonjab314]

Is there anyway (is the coop big enough) that you could just lock them in the coop for a day or two? Thats what Ive always done and never had to chase the babies back to the coop for bed. As far as the food goes, I always have some handy both inside and out just in case

 

[Jackschicks]

When I first started keeping chickens 4 years ago (and before the chickens run had a tin roof) I kept their food in the coop to keep it dry and I had horrible rodent problems so I would prefer not to have food in the coop. Last night after reading some of ya'lls helpful posts, I decided to try something different. I made sure the coop was open, then went inside and had my dinner and waited until it was full dark. When I came out with my flashlight about half (25 or so) of the chicks were in the coop and the remaining half were huddled up in a corner of the run. They were in "night mode" and it was really easy to pick them up, put them in the coop and then shut them in for safety. Since half of the chicks were in the coop already I have hope that they will all eventually learn to put themselves to bed like the big girls do.

I am really grateful for all the great information and good advice I have gotten from backyard chickens!!!

Thank You!!