How to get free range birds in coop

[3KillerBs]

They want to roost in the trees or settle under a bush? I guess I used the wrong word when I said, "go to roost." I meant free-ranging chickens that are used to a run or coop will eventually go into it rather than stay out in the open night and roost in the trees--unless they were not used to their run/coop.

They're trying to roost on the run clutter.

 

[Outta Here]

Ah, they want to be wild and free feral chickens! One trick I have used is to remove all sources of water from their free-ranging area so they routinely go into the run/coop to drink. Or like someone else said, don't let them free range for a week.

 

[Chickassan]

I start early by physically putting chicks in the coop when it is time.
When you get more chickens it gets easier because the young follow what they see.
Yours though since they're already past chick stage either get better treats I'm talking live bugs or make the coop more attractive by raising roost levels.
They like the highest point they can find.
Not the best summertime problem since even the best trained ones stay out as long as chickenly possible right now.

 

[ladyhand]

Gotta add a story: I went away for a week and left my granddaughter in charge of the chickens. She would read on the porch while they free ranged an hour or two, then try to get them back in with treats, which up to then had been working for me. For her it turned into a frustrating rodeo. (I hadn't come up with the hose idea yet.) But I had made a dog silhouette to scare the hawks which just scared the chickens instead, so it was abandoned in my garden. My desperate granddaughter got it and planted it in the yard. Zoom, all chickens back in coop! It worked just long enough for us to get back home (no decoys ever work for long--they'd probably perch on it now).
I wouldn't want to scare my chickens back into their coop as an everyday method, but I did think that was a resourceful emergency tactic on her part to get my flock safely locked in when she left.
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That’s an amazing story. Thank you for sharing!

 

[ladyhand]

YOU ALL ARE MY HEROES! Only 6 minutes on night 3 of our newly implemented routine!
So much better than chasing them. Also, one of them likes to fly up and perch on my shoulder while waiting on the others. I’m not sure if she wants a better view or thinks I’m somewhere she can sleep

 

[LoriBurke]

How do you get your free range chickens in the coop? I have four that are allowed to wonder around my fenced in back yard during the day, but getting them out to the coop at night is a nightmare. I've tried treats, but now they're on to me...

My chickens have a coop inside an enclosure and a nice open run in our yard. It took me a couple of weeks to not have to usher all my chickens in. Then I could stand in the enclosure with sunflower seeds or something and all but one would come. I always had to go get the one. But tonight, I got home after dark and they were all not only inside the enclosure but in the coop lol. SCORE!

 

[Happy hen lover]

I lured mine in with a night light as they can't hardly see at darkish dusk and never had to chase them again just had to keep changing timer to match sunset .

 

[NickySpink]

My five hens are completely free range within my large wild garden. I let them out of their run after I think they have all laid. They have layers pellets always available and water in the run which they can get to any time as the door is left open. I throw a hand full or so of corn and meal worms to them in the morning when they get out. In the evening I collect kitchen scraps in a bowl and call them back from the ends of the garden (although they do start to graduate towards the run at dusk). I call 'here chuck chuck chucks' and tap the bowl with my hand and they generally come running. They then get the kitchen scraps in a bowl in the run and are very keen on them. I think it's mainly a case of habit and training!

 

[Serenityintheverse]

So...

I have a flock that free ranges (see my signature, below). I've hit upon a management method that works for me, and seems to be unique among BYC posters. I can't find a single study that provides the illusion of "science" behind what I've stumbled into.

In short, this is an anecdote, and as advice, is worth not more, and perhaps less, than you paid for it.

I feed my birds once a day. At night. In the run. This encourages everyone to come to the run, and thus the coop, at night for a "free feeding". Which allows me to observe behaviors, look for signs of injury, get a head count, and make certain everyone goes to bed at night with a full crop. Seasonally, I find feed savings between 20-35% against expected consumption.

It also means that the birds know they aren't getting fed again till next sunset - so when I open the gates between 6 and 7am, they are awful eager to go bug hunting and grass/grain nibbling in my biodiverse polyculture (acres of weeds).

biodiverse polyculture! I love this so much, I have a great deal of that as well~

 

[TheyLive]

How do you get your free range chickens in the coop? I have four that are allowed to wonder around my fenced in back yard during the day, but getting them out to the coop at night is a nightmare. I've tried treats, but now they're on to me...

I have a protein shaker filled with scratch grains, I shake it, yell “FALL IN” and they come running. This is the only time they get scratch grains. If I have stragglers, I have a little broom I use as a shepherds staff to herd them to the coop.