Learning coop/run shedule

[slbenter]

Hello chicklovers.

I thought I'd share what my new chicks have taught me about themselves. They are almost 4 weeks old and doing very well in their coop and covered run. It's hot and humid here in N.W. Tennessee. We have 14 chicks of various breeds, BCM, RLW, Colombian Deleware, Deleware, EE and a grey something that hatched out of a blue egg from MPC I call Earl.(Earl Grey...get it? ) He's probably going to be a cockrel due to his size and attitude, but I could be wrong....we'll see.
We installed an automatic door in the coop leading to the covered run. It works great.
I would change their water out and check on them prior to the door closing in the evening. From a bedroom, I can see both the run and the coop. I was pleasantly surprised that they seemed to be going inside the coop at dusk, but I still go to that bedroom and look out to check on them each night to make sure.
Well, the other night, I stood looking out and thought I saw movement in the corner directly next to the automatic door. I went outside, and sure enough, they weren't inside the coop at all, they were huddled in that corner, and the auto-door had already shut. So with some commotion and loud complaining, I herded them all inside and closed the door to keep them inside.
Next night, the same thing...all huddled in that corner. I again tried to herd them back into the coop, but they scattered again. So I decided I'd try to outsmart them.
I went inside the coop, turned on a flashlight, rattled a bag of Grublies and scattered a few on the ground inside. (they love their Grublies and yes, they get chick grit too)
Once a bold BCM came in to scarf-up the treats, they all came running in. From there, one discovered their water bucket, and all of them were safely inside, I heard the beep of the auto door, and it closed on it's own without a hitch.

Now to my questions and observations.
These chicks have no trouble going in and out of their coop. The ramp isn't steep, and they understand it quite well. I have now questioned whether or not they were ever going inside the coop at night. I probably thought they were only because they were quietly huddled in a corner and I didn't see them until the one night I saw movement.
My thoughts are also...that they may not be going into the coop because they aren't roosting at night, so to speak. They still huddle together as a group, so I'm thinking that they have no reason to go in the coop at dusk. So now I must teach them.
I'm planning on delaying any of the few Grubblie treats until just before the door closes for the evening, and from inside the coop, call them and spread a few out, shining the flashlight down on them away from the auto-door, and wait until it closes before I leave.
So what have you all done to get your babies into a routine of going inside their coop? Will it naturally happen when they begin to roost at night?

 

[photohutch13]

I am no expert on any of this and was having the same issue. All 31 of my 4 1/2 week old Buff Orpington's were huddled up right off to the side of their pop door each evening. Luckily I came across a thread here addressing this. It said before sunset they will gather where there is the most light, which in a lot of instances is outside. Once it gets dark they are virtually blind so they huddle in place.

They suggested leaving a light on inside the coop as the sun starts to set so the most light is coming from inside the coop. I don't have electricity in my coop but I do have two solar powered lights so I have been leaving them on for about an hour and a half before sunset each evening. Much to my surprise, it has indeed been working. All of my chicks are inside so I can close their pop door! I'm not sure how long I will be required to do this but I believe they will get used to this procedure and it will become a habit for them. Otherwise I will have to figure out something else once the days get shorter.

Good luck with your chicks!

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I am no expert on any of this and was having the same issue. All 31 of my 4 1/2 week old Buff Orpington's were huddled up right off to the side of their pop door each evening. Luckily I came across a thread here addressing this. It said before sunset they will gather where there is the most light, which in a lot of instances is outside. Once it gets dark they are virtually blind so they huddle in place.

They suggested leaving a light on inside the coop as the sun starts to set so the most light is coming from inside the coop. I don't have electricity in my coop but I do have two solar powered lights so I have been leaving them on for about an hour and a half before sunset each evening. Much to my surprise, it has indeed been working. All of my chicks are inside so I can close their pop door! I'm not sure how long I will be required to do this but I believe they will get used to this procedure and it will become a habit for them. Otherwise I will have to figure out something else once the days get shorter.

Good luck with your chicks!

Interesting suggestion. I have also gone through this, but I had older birds to help share their sage wisdom to the younger birds. In the early days I would often have to catch the younger ones and put them in the coop and they’d huddle on the floor. The older they got the earlier they’d go into the coop and they’d start experimenting with roosting. It is a bit more challenging when they don’t have anyone to look up to so I’d be curious about using a light to help. @slbenter, I think you have a good game plan especially with monitoring them until the door closes.

 

[dikitty]

We have a night light(and a regular light) in our coop so the chickens(15 weeks) can see once it's time for them to go to bed. It's only been a few times they didn't make it inside; so we turned on some big lights to help them get in. (We went inside the coop then and called them) A couple of times the wind blew the door closed so they couldn't get in.

We have new chicks coming in this week, so I hope the older ones will teach the youngins to come inside (it took like 3 days of physically putting them inside for them to get it >.< There was always one who decided they'd go in when they felt like it and us chasing them wasn't going to convince them otherwise. So glad that's over lol )

 

[slbenter]

I am no expert on any of this and was having the same issue. All 31 of my 4 1/2 week old Buff Orpington's were huddled up right off to the side of their pop door each evening. Luckily I came across a thread here addressing this. It said before sunset they will gather where there is the most light, which in a lot of instances is outside. Once it gets dark they are virtually blind so they huddle in place.

They suggested leaving a light on inside the coop as the sun starts to set so the most light is coming from inside the coop. I don't have electricity in my coop but I do have two solar powered lights so I have been leaving them on for about an hour and a half before sunset each evening. Much to my surprise, it has indeed been working. All of my chicks are inside so I can close their pop door! I'm not sure how long I will be required to do this but I believe they will get used to this procedure and it will become a habit for them. Otherwise I will have to figure out something else once the days get shorter.

Good luck with your chicks!

Thank you so much for this! It makes sense that they'd huddle outside in the run, because they stay next to the most light. The run is indeed lighter than inside the coop. Ours has an electric source built close to it, but my husband has yet to wire it into the coop itself.
These chicks have been in the coop since they came out of the incubator, with an Echo-Glow heat source. (powered by an extension cord plugged into a source on an outside wall of the house) It's so hot here now though, that I've turned it off as of yesterday. It is in the 70's at night, but it's humid so it feels hotter. I wasn't quite sure why they weren't going into it at night, and figured it had something to do with them wanting to stay cooler, and not roosting just yet. But the light sounds more plausible...as they all preferred to stay within the light from the flashlight.
Thanks again. I'm going to try searching for that thread you talked about. Been here regularly reading this website for 7 years, but either I missed that topic, or can't remember ever reading it before. The latter is probably the best reason, as I am reaching the age where many of us develop CRS. (can't remember squat)

 

[photohutch13]

It was total dumb luck that just as I was coming in from having to herd them into the coop I opened this site and there was the thread. I couldn't believe my luck! It made perfectly good sense to me so had to try it. So far, so good. Wish I could remember what the tagline was that caught my eye but I seem to have CRS as well!

It's hot here in Kansas too but it doesn't seem to bother my flock in any fashion. I was really fretting what I would do if they were running around panting, etc. but haven't observed any signs from them that it bothers them. Thanks goodness! Let me know how it goes with your flock.

 

[slbenter]

Mine are about halfway feathered out. I have seen one BCM pant, but only for a moment.
I keep replacing their water a couple times each day from our well water source....it's nice and cool. They've just started enjoying some fresh herbs, one of which is mint that I grow, and also some watermelon. They do hold out their wings sometime and do a lot of dust bathing in the run, but so far so good. It's been in the 90's here, with roughly 58% humidity so it's kind of miserable for everyone.
Best to you and your babies as well. Stay cool!

 

[RubelliteRose]

Can you turn the auto door off for a few days until they are trained? We kept our flock locked in the coop for 3 days to establish it as home, but still needed to teach them to go in at night. We spent about a week and a half doing a combination of luring most in with mealworms and physically moving the one or two stragglers through the door. We may have needed less training time since I was about 10 minutes late one night and came out to find them all in the coop. Oops, I guess I was trying to put them to bed just a few minutes too early. That was a few weeks ago and they have been going in on their own since then.

 

[slbenter]

Can you turn the auto door off for a few days until they are trained? We kept our flock locked in the coop for 3 days to establish it as home, but still needed to teach them to go in at night. We spent about a week and a half doing a combination of luring most in with mealworms and physically moving the one or two stragglers through the door. We may have needed less training time since I was about 10 minutes late one night and came out to find them all in the coop. Oops, I guess I was trying to put them to bed just a few minutes too early. That was a few weeks ago and they have been going in on their own since then.

I suppose we could disconnect the battery that runs it, but I don't think there's a button or anything that just turns it off. It really isn't a big deal for me. We are always home in the evening, so it's no big deal for me to just go out there with the flashlight. Pretty soon my husband will have wired the coop for electricity anyway, then I can just put a light out there on a timer. I rather like the excuse to go out and spend time with them.
Thanks! Hope you're staying cool as well and best to your chicks.

 

[M Brennen]

My birds all go in at different times. The two bantams start going in and roosting between 5 -6PM. Daisy my 4year old buff goes in shortly after that. Lucy my 4year old Araucana hangs our with the teenagers until about 7-730 and then the teenagers (almost 7 weeks) go in closer to 8-8:30. Makes me think of humans. I know as the daylight gets shorter, they will go in earlier.

At first the teenagers all piled on the floor, but as time goes on, more and more of them are finding the roosts. Last night I had 16 roosted and 14 on the floor. My roosts are pretty high, so they need to be strong enough to get up there. I’m sure they will get there. The only birds I have ever had trouble with have been the bantams because they would prefer to roost in the trees instead of the coop.