Kicking them out of the house....

[NatJ]

Once again they are not in the coop. I put their food in there and seeded it well with dried crickets and meal worms. They went up ate stuff and came down the ramp again. I am sort of worried they will never learn unless I get them all in there manually, 13. Not sure how to accomplish getting all 13 in.

Were they all in at once as they ate? If so, close the door.

If most are in, maybe you can herd the last few in (walk toward them, they walk away from you, if you do it right they go where you want them to go.)

Otherwise, you can shut in as many as possible, then catch the rest one-by-one and toss them in.

I have found that a dish of wet food makes a good lure to get chickens in. (Just their usual chick food plus water.) They seem to like it well enough that they will stand there eating it, and they cannot pick it up and run back outside carrying it (which has happened with some other treats I've tried.) So that often gives me enough time to shoo the last few in and close the door.

 

[3KillerBs]

Once again they are not in the coop. I put their food in there and seeded it well with dried crickets and meal worms. They went up ate stuff and came down the ramp again. I am sort of worried they will never learn unless I get them all in there manually, 13. Not sure how to accomplish getting all 13 in.

Herd them in -- walking slowly toward them with your arms spread. As long as you have some of them it's OK if a few run around the outside. I made herding sticks to extend my reach. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/chicken-herding-sticks-d.1405967/#post-23078709

Do it at dusk when they're settling down but before it's all the way dark.

Get some in then go back to herd the rest. If it gets all the way dark and they are piled and settled just pick them up one or two at a time and put them through the pop door. They'll complain, but, after all, no kid ever wants to go to bed on time.

Otherwise, you can shut in as many as possible, then catch the rest one-by-one and toss them in.

Yes. It takes patience and persistence but it does work eventually.

 

[K0k0shka]

It helps to keep them locked inside the coop for about a week after transitioning out of the brooder, with no access to the run. Ideally your coop is big enough (as it should be). That way they'll get used to the inside of the coop, and get "homed" to it, so they view it as their safe space, their home. Then they'd be more willing to go into it for safety at night, as opposed to going into a space that's still very new to them.

If you train them to come when called, you can go inside the coop, bend down to the pop door so they can see you through it, and call them from in there. When they come in on their own, give them their reward. When all are in, close the pop door. That's another way to teach them to go in that requires them to do the actual walking through the pop door on their own rather than being placed in.

 

[Chick-Mahal]

I am getting some excellent advice here thanks to all who contribute. I am working on training them and they now know when I have snacks, usually meal worms and crickets. I use a small white bowl to put them in and then I crinkle the bag, whistle and say babies. They are learning this now. The weather has been well over 90 nthis past week so I was not too keen on trapping them in the hot house. I do have a window and a vent on one end but with this heat I think I might add a screen/wire cover to the clean out door for more ventilation in the summer. But it will have to be closed at night. They survived the heavy rain today, the thunder and lightening didn't phase them at all but then whe rain began relaly heavy they gathered in a group just standing there in it all so I went out and lured them to under the coop. They stayed until it stopped. I think they thought the rain was snacks falling from the sky it was so funny when it started to see them scattering fast to catch stuff. I might try to get them in tonight since it is now dark and it will be cooler next few days. Forgot to mention my hound dog is great at keeping critters away, their fences are about 10 feet apart. She wants so badly to go play but I am sure it would soon become a hunted mess. So sorry my girl no chickens for you to play with. LOL My electric fence works well I accidentally got a zap and yep it works!!
Thanks all again for all the support and help.