My 3 hens and 3 roosters will not go in the house to roost!

[chickenmommaof6]

Last night my chickens and roosters would not go in the house to roost. They perched outside the house. I checked in the house and there was nothing in there.
Are they too big to sleep together now?
I just added a new coop and house with laying boxes to the original coop. They did not even go in there.
I am concerned.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They don't like change. They don't know what a coop is until they've slept in there a few nights.

 

[KayTee]

Did you move the original coop, or just add more stuff to it?

If you move the sleeping area then they can get confused. I know my girls did. They free range, and in the beginning they slept in a small 4-chicken coop - about the size of a large rabbit hutch.

One day I had to move it - easy to do, so I placed it about 12 yards away from the original position. The girls wandered around the whole garden all day - they must have seen it during their mooching, so I thought there would be no problem.

But this is chickens that we are talking about! Come dusk, I go outside and see three chickens standing looking puzzled in the exact spot that the coop used to be. The coop is perfectly visible 12 yards away, but that CAN'T be their coop, because their coop is HERE, not THERE!

I had to go and chase them over to the new coop, and persuade them that was really their coop, and not someone else's!! They eventually went in, but with a lot of mumbling and complaining!

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Put them where you want them to go, every night until they finally get it. Might take up to a week for some stubborn ones, but most likely you'll only have to round them up at dusk for a few days. You might also want to lock them in 24/7 for a week until they understand that the new coop area is their home.

Chickens are not good with change.

 

[thatchickenlady]

As ChickenCanoe and others mentioned, they don't usually take a liking to new quarters right away, but after put in a few times you should find them roosting as they should...

 

[chickenmommaof6]

I just added to the coop they had. The new coop has 2 laying boxes in it. I have had them sleeping together in a small coop since they were baby chicks (May 2013)

 

[chickenmommaof6]

I have not let them out to roam yet, worried they will not find their way back to roost. Worried Mother I am!!!!!

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I have not let them out to roam yet, worried they will not find their way back to roost. Worried Mother I am!!!!!

Let them out an hour before dusk. That way, if they dont' go in, they won't go far and you can round them up and put them where you want them.

 

[flickerloo]

I always make my chickens go into the coop at night. Every one of them has resisted at the beginning, and sometimes I had to pick them up after it got dark and move them into the coop. Takes a week or so and then they get used to it.

 

[chickenmommaof6]

How do I go about rounding then up? If they roost in a tree I won't be able to get them. Should I let them out yet since they haven't started laying eggs.