How do we get them to come inside the coop at night? Very new to this

[PhilErvin]

I agree, lock them in for a week with food and water, they will learn that this is their safe place for the night and return from there on out. They are creatures of habit so you need to help put them in the habit.

 

[mrkep]

Even tho this is my first experience with chickens, I followed suggestions I found here. I put a lite on a timer in the coop, set to go on at 5:30, off at 10:00. The first day in their run, I went out at 9:30, full dark, and everyone was in the coop, gathered around the feeder.

 

[fiberart57]

Please do not lock nine adult chickens in a 12 sq ft coop for a week. This is a bad idea.

Yes, it's the correct way to acclimate them to a new home, but that house is far too small for them and you will end up with battered, possibly dead, chickens, not to mention if they lay any eggs, the eggs will probably get crushed and you then might end up with an egg eater.

If you plan to keep that many chickens you will need a bigger house. You said you may give three away to friend, but you will be left with six birds needing at a minimum of 24 sq ft; once again you are at half of the required spacing.

Here's a few options from my perspective:

-Build a bigger house and/or add on the one you have to make it spacious enough. Don't just make it the 4 sq ft minimum because when winter comes if you have lots of precipitation they'll want to hang out in the house and they'll need more room.

-Fortunately it's currently summer and you can build them a small pen, about 100 sq feet, around their house. Use some four foot high garden fencing (make sure their wings are clipped) and confine them close to the coop. Do not give them anything else to roost on and they'll go into their house to roost. This is in lieu of locking them in the coop itself. After about a week they can be let out into the bigger pen and they'll return then at night. While this is going on, work on building a bigger house.

-Give away all but three chickens. That's what you have housing for. With NHRs, this is approximately 18 - 20 eggs per week.

Free feed quality food to your birds. They're NHRs, not inclined to get tubby and will eat only what they need. Also, you mentioned a Purina Feed, it's possible that it's Flock Raiser. If so, you'll need to feed them oyster shell or some kind of calcium supplement. That's what I feed my girls and I love it. But I have oyster shell out all the time for them.

Congratulations on the new family members and welcome to BYC. Good luck.

Mary

 

[Yardbirds286]

After two nights of throwing a couple cut up grapes in their coop, they all go in on their own now at dusk. Don't lock them inside during the summer heat. It would be very miserable for them.

 

[Oven Ready]

Please do not lock nine adult chickens in a 12 sq ft coop for a week. This is a bad idea.

Sorry, I read 3x4 as metres - 12 square metres. How small a coop is 3ftx4ft? That's about the same as my PC desk. How high is it?

I think you might need to get some lumber, some nails and a hammer out of the shed - then once it's empty move the chickens in to the shed.

 

[farmerjan]

Thanks, everybody!!

First, I have no intention of locking them in their coop for five days. It is 100 degrees on my back deck right now! The coop is actually quite spacious - it is kind of tall and airy, has a couple of long roosting bars, three elevated nesting boxes with a door for easy egg retrieval, and what seems like enough of room for at least 6 of them to hang out. Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens indicates each chicken needs 2-3 sq. ft. of room, so I thought 6 chickens x the minimum of 2 feet would work. Their outdoor pen is 100 feet in circumference. In the winter, they will be in an unheated barn, in a stall that is 9' x 11'. The coop will be their night-time home, but they'll have the stall to hang out in during the day. We get a lot of snow here in NH, so I can't imagine they'd want to go outside much during those months.

They are nesting in their boxes - nine eggs from nine chickens in two days. Only one was out in the pen - the others were where they should be!

Tonight, I am going to put the feeder inside the coop and then leave them alone till just before dark. At dusk, I'll check back and see if anyone has gone inside, and if I can catch the rest by myself, i will lock them all in. If I can't, the stragglers can go into a dog crate that sits outside the coop, or go under the coop and sleep. The coop is up on wheels - my husband made that modification so that we could move it around the paddock. My husband is away, so I can only do so much chicken chasing. The dogs don't stay out at night, but their scent and poop is all over the rest of the paddock, which might be a good deterent.

I guess I might need a continuous feeder instead of this tray thing I have. That way I wouldn't have to worry about whether it's got feed in it, several times a day. For a small flock, does anyone have a recommendation on a make or model?

Again, thanks so much!!

 

[debeaked]

Here's what worked for me. I placed a small night light with an optical sensor inside the coop. Without fail, every night, they go inside the coop towards the light. The small night light isn't too bright, but just enough to attract the birds into their sleeping quarters.

 

[farmerjan]

Thank you all, again! For lack of another kind of light, I put a lighted Maglite in the coop, leaning against a nesting box, and by full dark, all nine chickens were in the coop, sleeping peacefully.

I got out the specs on our coop, and it is actually 3 x 5 ft., not 3 x4. Nonetheless, it is too small for nine. Only seven had room on the roosting pole, 2 were nestled into the shavings on the floor. I will give three away tomorrow, and I do believe the coop will house six quite comfortably.

Whew! You all were a huge help. I think we can do this!!

 

[Organics North]

Sounds like you got it..

Food and light.. Yup.. They will learn quick.
ON

 

[Oven Ready]

Well done you (and your girls)!

Enjoy BYC. As you see you'll get plenty, often differing, opinions as to what to do when your stuck but it all helps.