My chicken hates me.

[Florida_country_boy]

The water hose worked. I only had to spray them two nights, and they have been going to the coop on their own ever since.

Is yours still roosting in the tree?

 

[smkchick]

After the lockup, I let Gladys out on Saturday to free range. That afternoon, around 4pm, she started moseying toward the tree so I tried to lure her to the coop. But she was having none of it, so I had to pick her up and put her in the coop. I decided to give her another "sentence" of a few days. After 3 days of lockup, I let her out in the afternoon. When it started to get dark, she started looking up at the tree. I herded her toward the coop and scattered her favorite treats liberally inside the coop. She still wouldn't go in.

Then she stopped in front of the coop and looked up at it. She cocked her head to one side and I swear I saw the lightbulb go on over her little chicken head. It was like she said, "oh yeah, that's where I'm supposed to sleep." She walked right into the coop, right past the treats and headed up the ladder to roost.

That evening, I brought home another chicken and both girls went into the coop on their own at dusk. Tonight, same thing.

Looks like the second lockdown worked.

I'm glad your solution worked for you! It's nice having "automatic" chickens!!