how to get them back in the coop?

[thechickman04]

i really want to let my hens out during the day while i am at home to freerange.....How do i get them back into the coop?

 

[hcammack]

scratch or chasing them (great exercise) also I can just wait till the late afternoon and they go in and put themselves to bed then I just go out and lock up.

Henry

 

[dozen chickens]

Our flock is let out in the morning, anywhere between 7-9 AM and they start heading back to the coop when the sun is going down. If I want them in a bit earlier (ie, if we are going to dinner or something) I "bribe" them in with crushed corn, or scratch in the coop- that brings them in EVERYTIME! :0)

 

[thechickman04]

i dont want mine out all day and only whne i am there to watch them because i have a huge hawk problem

 

[SpottedCrow]

"Treats!!" yelled across the yard works for my two...

They know what when Momma yells "to Me!" they need to come to Mommy NOW! because the dog's out or there's a hawk nearby.

 

[6chix]

My chickens come back in by themselves. I never trained them or bribed them. Unfortunatly we still have 2 feet of snow thats going to take a while to melt

. So the girls haven't been out of the coop/run for a couple of months.

 

[dozen chickens]

Quote:
Yeah, our girls go in on their own too, but I do bribe them with treats if I want to close them in early- when my laziness prevails!

We feel your pain, our girls werent out much over the winter either, we ended up raking them a path from the coop to a boat trailer, and they would walk over the packed down snow to get to the trailer, although some evenings they just simply didnt want to walk back over the snow so we would have to carry them. Spoiled chickens!

 

[Xtradust]

C-O-R-N

 

[raindrop]

I have the same problem with predators. Usually I just wait until later in the afternoon, let them out when I know I will be around, and then let them put themselves to bed in the evening.
Throwing out some scratch or the kitchen scraps bucket (aka the "chicken bucket") work really well too. You kind of have to train them to come when you call then they will get back into their run more quickly. I call mine "chick, chick, chick" and they come running!

 

[d.k]

*mine has a squeaky toy that she KNOWS she supposed to answer and come to-- but, she still ignores it if she's sleeping somewhere or just feeling stubborn.