How to teach the chickens to go in the coop at night?

[TTownChics]

Ok so i have 8 chickens. 6 hens and 2 roos. We had them in brooders as 4 and 4. They basically stay in their little groups in the run. We put them in their run/coop a week ago. The 4 smaller ones (all hens) go in the coop and tuck themselves in.

The 4 bigger ones, 2 roosters and the 2 biggest hens just huddle around the coop outside and don't go in. I go and put them in their coop and they stay there til morning.

It has been raining and they were all enjoying it but when it got dark, the 4 little ones went in and the other ding dongs stayed out. When I went out there, they all ran to me and I scooped them up and put them in the coop.

What can I do to teach them to go in there at night?

 

[KateJ75]

I couldn't tell you how to fix the problem now, but. . . When starting them in the coop, mine do not leave for at-least a week. They quite literally get "cooped-up." After the first week, I let them out into a temporarily fenced area. After a week of that, I let them free-range. Only ever had one hen that didn't go up on her own at night after that. She preferred to "roost" under my neighbors' porch at night. *shrug*

 

[eggsontoast]

I have this issue with my Silkie. My other three, who are only 11 weeks old, have figured it out and go into the coop on their own by 7:30 each evening. The silkie, however, just settles down in the run. I'd let her stay there, but our run isn't built to keep out serious predators like raccoons or possums....it's mostly to protect them from hawks during the daytime. Other posters have said that their Silkie doesn't roost and must be placed into the coop each night, so I guess I'm going to have to keep doing that. I want her to be safe, even though she's too dumb to realize the danger of sleeping outside.

 

[TTownChics]

Thanks for answering! I wanted to let you know that they figured it out!

 

[RyansMommy32712]

My 4 didn't get it at first either, then they did, then tonight after 3-4 nights of sleeping in the coop, they decided to sleep "downstairs" makes me so darn nervous, cause atleast in the coop they can't be clearly seen by a raccoon or something. They get quite annoyed when I try to move them.lol

 

[coopdeville15]

I just put my new flock into the coop a couple of days ago. Same thing. Although I introduced them first to the roosting/ nesting area on the upper level, that first night they just huddled together down in the run. It wasn't overly cold out, nightime low about 69 degrees, but it had rained and was a bit damp in the run area. Last night when I got home after dark, they were again huddled together down in the run, so I picked them up one by one and put them into the upper roosting area.I got up after sun rise this morning and they were all down in the run, so I don't know if they stayed all night up in the roost or not. I will "put them to bed" again tonight and will be up before sunrise tomorrow morning to see if they are still "in bed" while it's still dark out side. Any other suggestions?

 

[coopdeville15]

I had to put my chicks to bed again last night, going out after dark I found them huddled up again down in the run portion of my coop. With great fanfare and agitated squawking, I placed each one up in the roosting area. This AM I was able to go out to check on them while it was still dark and they were still up in the roost area where I put them. I wonder how long it will take them to go to the roost on their own rather than have me "man-handle" them each night?

 

[coopdeville15]

Same thing again, I had to put them to bed as they were huddled down in the run. Am I wasting my time doing this? I worry about a coon reaching in and harming them, since they seem to huddle against the outside edge of their enclosure. The opening of the wire is fairly small 1 x 1/2, but I bet a coon could get it's paw in even if he couldn't get a (whole) chicken out!