How long do I keep them locked up

[Beaglegal]

Sunday I chased down and netted 11 chicks and 1 hen and locked them up in a small coop with the goal if reprogramming them to sleep inside at night. My hen hatched her chicks in a wooded area near the house and has been sleeping with them under a tree for the first 6 weeks.

I was planning on keeping them locked up for a week before letting them out but I wonder if they should stay longer given how wild they have been. I DO NOT want to have to chase them down and net them again as it almost killed me and almost destroyed one of my coops. So I’d rather err on the side of too long.

Should I lock them up for longer?

 

[2 many chickens]

at least a week. Be sure to have plenty of feed and water in there. Maybe even two weeks.

 

[Sequel]

Is the coop in a pen of any kind? That would sure make things easier.

 

[chickenlittle21]

do you have any hawks or large predator birds or just any predators near by or reported predator attacks in your area.

 

[chickenlittle21]

i would recommend putting them in a large coop with a good size run.

 

[Mrs. K]

If you don't have a run, then leave them in the coop, but I am hoping you have to ventilation.

If you have a coop/run connected, then I let mine in that as they want. The coop IS the best place to sleep in that set up and they do.

 

[Beaglegal]

Is the coop in a pen of any kind? That would sure make things easier.

It would... I don’t have a pen that will contain them... if only

 

[Beaglegal]

If you don't have a run, then leave them in the coop, but I am hoping you have to ventilation.

If you have a coop/run connected, then I let mine in that as they want. The coop IS the best place to sleep in that set up and they do.

I have ventilation but no run that can hold them. My main goal is that they come in at night

 

[aart]

Do you have other birds the little family needs to be integrated with?
At 6 weeks mama might be close to weaning the chicks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I was planning on keeping them locked up for a week before letting them out but I wonder if they should stay longer given how wild they have been.

Should I lock them up for longer?

That's a hard one. With living animals it's just hard to come up with answers to stuff like this. Each situation varies.

What does your coop look like? Is it on the ground or elevated? You said small, how big is it in feet? Do you have roosts?

I've never been in your exact situation but have done some similar things. Sometimes when the main coop is really crowded I'll put a broody and her chicks in a shelter on the ground outside in an electric-netted area after she brings them off the nest. If I leave them locked in there for two nights the hen always takes them back there at night. But those are newly hatched chicks, not 6 weeks old. And the netting does confine them.

I sometimes move 5 week old brooder raised chicks to my grow-out coop when the main coop is fairly full. That is an elevated coop with a small run attached. Even if I leave the chicks in the coop section only for over a week they practically always sleep in the run when I first let them out. I think the coop being elevated makes a difference.

At 6 weeks old I'm surprised the hen had not taken them to roost in the trees. I don't know when that hen might wean them.

How hard would it be to put a temporary fence around that coop? Then you could make sure they are putting themselves to bed in the coop before you gave them any freedom. Since it is just to keep chickens in bird or deer netting would do.

If they are not roosting yet I'd probably wait until they started roosting before I gave them that freedom if you don't do a run. Even that is not a guarantee. I've had chicks move themselves into the main coop on their own even after going back to that shelter or grow-out coop for weeks. You could find them gone one night, just decided to sleep somewhere else.

I think either a fence or waiting until they roost is the best you can do.