My Chickens STILL Won't Go In *UPDATE*

[teach1rusl]

Place a small light (even a flashlight will work) inside the shelter about 30-45 minutes before nightfall. Most likely they will travel toward the safety of the light. When you go to shut their pop door, just turn it off. Do that for a week or so, and they will most likely have learned that the coop shelter is their "safe zone."

 

[MysticScorpio82]

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[FarmerJamie]

Hey LJ, are those the infamous SMALL TOWN chickens? Did you get it figured out yet?

 

[woodmort]

Do you have a roost in the coop? It is natural for them to want to get as high as possible at night but they first need to know where that roost is. I usually wait until mine start to roost before allowing them out and it isn't that big a problem. If you don't have a roost, put one up, lock them in and check to see if they're using it at night. Once they are release them again.

 

[rdport]

Good suggestions to try. Also, if you want to try this, it has worked for us with pullets. We use the garden hose to head them in the right direction...they don't like the fine spray, so they head inside, and they don't know that you are the one doing it. Just spray them nice and easy and encourage them to go for the night. Make sure you spray behind them.

 

[aduplantis]

It took my chickens 3 days to learn to go in their coop at night. Before they learned we would have to put them in ourselves. It seemed like one of the chickens was the leader. Once she would go in the rest would follow. They will go in once they learn what to do. Good Luck to You!!

 

[Yay Chicks!]

It took mine 10 days of chicken wrangling til they figured it out!

 

[Laurajean]

I started this thread back in July, and they STILL will not go into the coop at night. I've tried everything. I've put a light inside, I've left them in there for a week at a time, I've put their food in there, they just won't go in. I don't think it's the ramp being too high for them to use, because not only is it pretty low, but they hang out on it all the time and now they'll even go into the house to lay eggs. But they STILL won't sleep in it. It's plenty big for them, 4 x4 x 5 high, they have a wide roost, boxes, bedding, etc. I can't imagine what more they could want.

They sleep in the same place as they did back in my first post, which is on the ground of the run, in a little huddle, by the run door. I gave up on carrying them in every night out of desperation, hoping they would feel the chilliness and go in on their own.

I dug up this thread, hoping this time, someone might suggest something new.

It's almost winter here in NH and I'm sure they will freeze to death sleeping on the ground by the door of the run like this. They have never slept in it, even in rain or cold. I'm afraid I'm going to go out to find them dead some morning.

Now it's even worse because I have a roo, and he's become mean and grabbing him at night is not only difficult, but he darn near rips my arms off.

Does anyone have ANY other ideas??? Everyone assured me they'd catch on, and they just are not getting it!

 

[Chicken.Lytle]

I had the same problem the first few days. They learned to go in soon enough, but on their schedule.

I have started luring the birds into the coop on my schedule with treats .

 

[Barry Natchitoches]

I had a rooster who insisted on sleeping on a bench outside the main henhouse at night, instead of the comfy roost in the chicken tractor where his two hens sleep.


He did this for months, and when it would rain or get too cold, I'd have to go out there and pick the big boy up and put him into the tractor myself.


Two things converged together to finally get him to go sleep in his tractor with his hens:


1, It got really cold (upper 20s) a few nights, and I waited until he was good and cold before I put him in to the warm and dry tractor. (I have a 150 watt ceramic heating unit in the tractor for really cold nights, it puts out about the amount of heat that a 100 watt regular heat lamp puts out). After being out in the freezing weather for a while, he welcomed the warmth of his tractor.

and

2, I discovered the magic of black oil sunflower seeds. It seems that if you throw some sunflower seeds into the sleeping area around bedtime, even the wayward rooster will go into the sleeping area to feast on the treat. After he and his girls went in to enjoy the treat, I'd close the door, and he was in for the night.


For all of the MONTHS I struggled to get Pierre to sleep inside that tractor, in the end it only took a few nights of him being moved from the bitter cold into a warm setting (coupled with some sunflower seeds thrown into the tractor at bedtime) for him to completely change his behavior. Now, every night he faithfully goes into the tractor with his two ladies, climbs up on his roost, and settles down for the evening without any intervention on my part whatsoever.


I don't even throw sunflower seeds into the tractor at bed time to lure him in anymore. He just does it on his own. And he has done it on his own, every night for about three weeks now, since we finally broke him of the habit of sleeping outdoors on that bench.

It sounds like you have a violent rooster, and if it is violent, the best place for it might be freezer camp. My rooster, unlike yours, is a friendly chap -- protective of his hens, and respectful of me and my wife as alpha chickens.


Anyway, I don't know if this will help you, but it sure helped me with my big boy.