How long do I keep them locked up

[Beaglegal]

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.

Thanks this post was helpful. The mama hen is not much of a joiner and I am not sure she slept in the main coop before she hatched her chicks, it was before I bought the place. My thought was they could still free range in the area they were before (house, garage, wood pile) but sleep in this small separate coop that I converted from an insulated brooder. They could also integrate with the main flock if they wanted. I really just want them sleeping inside.

I did install some roosts close to the floor for the chicks and about 1/3 use them, the other sleep on the ground snuggled under mom. They are now about 7 weeks old.

Do you think electric poultry netting could be a solution to keep them contained until they are coop trained?

 

[Ridgerunner]

One problem with electric poultry netting is that the chicks can walk through it until they reach a certain size. Their feathers insulate them. With my full-sized fowl chicks that is around 8 weeks old. If yours are bantam or smaller game-type chickens they might need to be older. The broody hen can't get through so as long as she is taking care of them they will come back to her, but she could wean them pretty soon.

My poultry netting is 48" tall. My chickens can fly over it if they want to, but they usually don't want to. Yours might want to. I'm not sure it is a good fit for this.

 

[Beaglegal]

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

I am not sure if she will want to intergrate with the main flock, my first goal was to get her sleeping inside at night

 

[aart]

I am not sure if she will want to intergrate with the main flock, my first goal was to get her sleeping inside at night

Good start!
You might be able to be the one who decides where she integrates.
Tell us more about....
- your goals for keeping chickens,
- your flock size(numbers, ages, genders),
- your coop(size in feet by feet with pics).

 

[Beaglegal]

Good start!
You might be able to be the one who decides where she integrates.
Tell us more about....
- your goals for keeping chickens,
- your flock size(numbers, ages, genders),
- your coop(size in feet by feet with pics).

My goals for keeping chickens was to get colorful eggs and to raise humane meat. We just moved in our 4.5 acre farm 8 weeks ago and the chickens and ducks were left by the previous owner. The birds free range because the current fence doesn’t really keep them in. Most of the chickens (16)are sleeping in my main coop which is part of the divided barn. The other side 7 ducks sleep with 2 chickens and an older chick (no idea how old but older than 8 weeks). I have 2 moms with chicks, the buff Orpington who this message in about with 11 7 week old chicks, and another who I managed to find before her chicks hatched and moved into one of the brooder buildings. Her 8 chicks are integrating nicely but they sleep in their brooder at night. Mama BO lives in the other brooder/coop with her 11. I also have a very small coop that is currently un used and not really fit for use at this time.

Summary 5 coop areas, 18 total hens, 2 roosters, 21 chicks, 6 female ducks, 1 drake. I have 3 separate fenced areas but my fences are about 4.5 feet tall and the chickens can fly over them.

My plans for the male chicks is to let them grow up and process them for meat. The female chicks I would like to sell because I don’t currently need more hens.
Picture below

 

[Beaglegal]

 

[Beaglegal]

 

[Beaglegal]

The last pic is where she was sleeping