How to move flock to an entirely new coop?

[black_cat]

If I wanted to build a larger coop for my adult hens (the one they're in is tiny and impossible to maintain well) How would I go about switching the flock when it's ready for move in? Do I have to do it gradually? Do I have to put them in only the new coop first, then open it up to the run? Do I just let them free range a bit with the door to the new one open, then when it's time for them to go in for the night toss some treats in? Do I take them off the roost and move them? I have no idea how to do this.

 

[SueT]

It might be good to take them off the roost and put them in at night so they wake up in their new abode, but any of those ideas may work.....

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I just grab them and put them in there, shut the door for a few days

 

[black_cat]

It might be good to take them off the roost and put them in at night so they wake up in their new abode, but any of those ideas may work.....

Ok, thank you....this is all purely hypothetical at the moment, because I still don't have a new one built..I just like to plan ahead. I've never actually had to take any off the roost. Do they freak out?

 

[black_cat]

I just grab them and put them in there, shut the door for a few days

Shut them in the coop and run or just the coop?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

If they're comnected, you can do the coop and run

 

[black_cat]

If they're comnected, you can do the coop and run

Ok, thank you! This would be a coop with an attached run. Have you found that you have to re-roost train them? Or do they go to the roosts on their own?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I actually don't roost train mine. Our coop didn't have a roost, just the nest boxes so they sleep there.

Yes i know I should have a roost, we built it with the implication birds slept on their nests like in movies

 

[lovesfarms]

We always moved them in the evening when it's dark. You can catch them easy and deposit then on the new roost to ensure they get started using the roost. You may need to keep them cooped a couple days so they learn where their feed is before free ranging and so they don't return to their old coop

 

[austrianalps13]

I like to keep them locked up if weather allows for like 3 to 4days and then they are sure to associate the new place with home. I feel like it resets their brain. Never had an issue with a hen not going in at night that way.