How long to imprint new coop and location?

[HenOnAJuneBug]

I moved my 24 free ranging chickens to a new coop and left them locked up for 2 days and 3 nights. I figured that would be long enough for them to know that was their new home, but no.

I let them out today, and towards evening they all headed to the old coop about 100 yds away. I removed the roost and part of the side, so they couldn't stay there tonight; so I had to haul all of them, one at a time, to their new coop, except for 6 who were kind enough to make the trip themselves once they saw the ranks thinning at the old coop.

I'm going to leave them locked up for at least a week, now. Will that be long enough?

 

[aart]

Will that be long enough?

Maybe.....hope it's big and well ventilated enough.(it's been hot as hell here).
Might cover the old coop entirely with a big tarp so they can even get in and it looks nothing like their old beloved home?

 

[limaro]

If they've been in that old coop for a while, I bet it's going to be a challenge! Is the old coop coming down completely or being repurposed? I wish you luck and cooperative chickens!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm going to leave them locked up for at least a week, now. Will that be long enough?

Maybe, maybe not. You'll know in a week. I'd try something like that in your situation. To me your plan sounds good but I can't give guarantees with living animals. You never know for sure.

Does the new coop have a run associated with it so you could lock them in the coop plus run? If so I'd want them to be putting themselves to bed on the roosts before I let them out of that run, however long that takes. But at least a week.

Are they of laying age? If so, how is the transition to the new nests going? To me that's another advantage of leaving them locked in there for a while, they are more likely to lay in those nests.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

Maybe.....hope it's big and well ventilated enough.(it's been hot as hell here).
Might cover the old coop entirely with a big tarp so they can even get in and it looks nothing like their old beloved home?

It's a modified Woods type coop. I took an old 8x10 wooden shed I have and expanded it to 8x15. The front has a huge opening about 3x5, plus open gables, so I'm pretty confident there's enough ventilation.

Plus they have a 18x20 covered run made from an old metal carport that's very well-ventilated. A breeze almost always blows through it keeping it cool.

I closed off the old coop completely last night, which was the only way I could catch them. As some would go in I'd close the door so I could grab them.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

If they've been in that old coop for a while, I bet it's going to be a challenge! Is the old coop coming down completely or being repurposed? I wish you luck and cooperative chickens!

They've been in the old one for several years. I intend to move that coop, which is really just a metal shed, but am a bit reluctant to do so until they are all conditioned to return to their new coop, because being able to trap them in the old coop is the only way I have to catch them.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

I'm going to leave them locked up for at least a week, now. Will that be long enough?

Maybe, maybe not. You'll know in a week. I'd try something like that in your situation. To me your plan sounds good but I can't give guarantees with living animals. You never know for sure.

Does the new coop have a run associated with it so you could lock them in the coop plus run? If so I'd want them to be putting themselves to bed on the roosts before I let them out of that run, however long that takes. But at least a week.

Are they of laying age? If so, how is the transition to the new nests going? To me that's another advantage of leaving them locked in there for a while, they are more likely to lay in those nests.

Yes they have a very nice covered run. They seem to love the roost. I made it multi-level with 5 levels. They seem to like the coop too because a number of them hang out inside during the day.

Yes they lay, and production is a little down, I suppose because of the stress, but they are laying in the nests. One actually layed an egg in the old coop even though I had put something in front of the nests to block them. But she found a way.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

I think what I'll do when I let them out again is give them their evening dinner inside their new run. That way I'll be able to capture about 80% of them, and if the others go down to the old coop it won't be so much work hauling them to the new coop. That's how I originally transferred them, but I mistakenly thought that wasn't necessary last night. Hoo boy that wore me out hauling them one at a time up the hill.

 

[aart]

It's a modified Woods type coop. I took an old 8x10 wooden shed I have and expanded it to 8x15. The front has a huge opening about 3x5, plus open gables, so I'm pretty confident there's enough ventilation.

I'd say so, yeah.
Leave them in there for two weeks.
Would love to see your coop, got a build thread?

 

[Perris]

I face this issue a couple of times a year, because I have multiple small (by US standards) coops that are designed to be mobile, and I move them to fresh ground 3 times a year. I try to keep the locations in sight of one another so the birds aren't completely lost, but it usually takes most of them about 3 days to remember that the coops have moved; they hang around where the coops used to be, and then follow me and treats to where they now are. Some are quicker learners than others, of course! Have you tried walking them over with treats?