how do you get the hens in the coop at night?

[Mahonri]

Keep them in the coop for a week or two.

After that when it starts getting dark, they'll be heading in early.

 

[SSO202]

You shouldn't have any problems once they learn that is the proper place to roost. If you can lock them inside for a few days it will help. If not some people use a small light inside to draw them in or use treats. Good Luck!

 

[bluey]

If you keep them in the coop for 2 to 3 days, that pretty much does the trick....

Once they consider a place home and safe, they'll always return before dark....

My new mother hen and 3 chicks learned to go into the new bedframe coop I just built after being kept in it for only one day!!!

 

[Akane]

Meditation will not get a japanese bantam that can fly 20' out of a tree....

 

[thepetpaw]

I put mine in the coop for about a week - they are free range and go automatically in the evening - different times because there are 14 of them. I also had one chicken get loose on day one - never even went in the coop. My son and I chased her about 1/2" back into the woods trying to catch her before we gave up. Very disappointed thinking she would be somethings dinner that night. I had a little 4 foot fence around the coop and guess what - the next morning she was in the coop with the rest. She had to find her way out of the woods...never been there before, find her way to the strange coop, get in the coop with the strange chickens - fly over the 4 foot fence and she did it all by herself!

 

[PAJerry]

Mine were always easy to get in, but when I put in the nest box they did not want to go in for a few nights. They are ok with it now. I think that when you make changes inside the coop, they get a bit nervous. Now that it is getting dark earlier, they are all in on the roosts by 8:00 pm.

 

[wyliefarms]

As the others said, they need to know where home is. So leave them in for a few days or a week.

We have different coops with different ages of chickens. The older ladies go in very early back to the coop. The younger ladies wait til the last possible second to go into their coop. I always joke that it is just like women. The old ladies are in their house early and the young women are out living it up.

Good luck.

 

[Portia]

My chickens free range and head into the coop everynight starting just before dusk, but the time its nearing dark they're all in and performing their evening preen up on the roosts. I'm not much for locking them in the coop for long durations unless I have to, so I've tried several different tactics until they 'got it'. I never locked them in for a full day, but for 2-3 days in a row I left them in until late morning, then opened the door and let them make their way out. This seemed to work for me. I did the same thing when they started laying so they would use the nest boxes versus making their own nests in the woods.

 

[Hobbley_Farm]

When we moved our chickens, it was to a MUCH larger area. We had to run around with a fish net for about a week. Now almost all of them go into their coops when I go outside and tell them to. Sometimes our big roo puts up a fuss, and I just give him 15 minutes and if I can't catch him or he doesn't go in, then I leave it up to him. We have two top hats. They aren't the brightest birds. I can just walk up behind them and scoop them up and put them in their coop. They're like our own little Paris Hiltons. Very beautiful and mildly retarded.

 

[JCfans]

When ours first went out we had some trouble, but we just started turning on the light in the coop in the evening as soon as it started to get dark and they go to the light. Now they just go in naturally
.