My chickens won't go into their coop at night.

[iwiw60]

Thanks so much for the information. This is my first time with chickens and I appreciate the advise. How do you heat your coop in the winter? We can get -20 here in Idaho.

We can get down that low, too, here in Central Oregon...brrrr!!! Chickens, especially big breeds like yours and mine, will do well down to -20. I do not heat my coop. Chickens don't need heat, what they need is ventilation. Moisture/humidity is what will produce problems especially frostbite. If you have condensation on your windows/walls of your coop you're keeping them too "tight" and you need to open your window(s) a crack to prevent that from happening. Chickens are not like humans, they do not need heat. While the snow is is blowing and it's freezing outside our first instinct as humans is to think "oh, I have to put some heat out there, they're freezing" .... NOT! I put some Vaseline on their combs and wattles to help prevent frostbite.

Some people still insist on heating their coop, and the results can be devastating...

Twelve chicks and 8 hens were lost in this fire...so senseless. So to heat or not to heat, that's up to you, but I don't advise it.

To keep your girls more comfortable you might wrap their run area with plastic sheeting, this is what I have done:

I've wrapped three sides, leaving a small area open on the north side of my run and about 6-8 inches up at the top all the way around for good air circulation. This will keep the freezing winds off of them...just an idea for you.

 

[iwiw60]

Thank you for your post...I have the opposite problem. I have a girl that wont comeout of the coop, and spends most
If not all of her time in her nesting box. I have picked her up and loved on her, taken her outside and she runs right back to her box.
I have 2 Roos, and 9 other hens.

Thanks in advance for any help!!

It almost sounds like you have a very broody hen on your hands!

 

[DMeyerhoff]

I do believe your right iwiw60, after doing some more reading she sure fits the description. Now to figure out how to get her out of her mood. If it were spring I might consider letting her sit but I'm not sure its something I want to tackle with the cold weather coming....

 

[iwiw60]

I do believe your right iwiw60, after doing some more reading she sure fits the description. Now to figure out how to get her out of her mood. If it were spring I might consider letting her sit but I'm not sure its something I want to tackle with the cold weather coming....

Yes, hatching chicks with the freezing weather fast approaching might not be the ideal time for this. If you do want to 'break' her here's a great page with a lot of info:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/search?q=broody+breaker

 

[DMeyerhoff]

Very helpful iwiw60, thank you very much.... Now I just needo come up with a broody breaker!!

 

[Pressman]

Okay, thanks so much, I do appreciate your experience. I'll not worry about heating the coop and I had a tarp over half their run this summer for shade. Also got a regular shade cloth. We had a dandy of a storm a couple weeks ago and I arrived home just in time to see my "chicken tractor" floating three feet off the ground. The front stakes were holding but not the rear ones. So I bought a coop from the Amish here. Weighs about 1,000 pounds and I don't think the storms will shake it. Attached my "chicken tractor" to the coop for their run. If I can figure out how to attach a photo I will. I have one of the outside but not the inside yet, and it's dark now. My hens did all go into the coop tonight, by themselves. I had to go in and put them on the roost though. I had to laugh when I said to my daughter "Who would have thought I would have to teach my chickens to be chickens!" She said, "Well you know Mom, most other chickens would have an adult chicken to teach them." Hmm - out of the mouths of babes.

 

[dmbnj]

I had a problem with mine going into the coop a few months back, but they were only three and a half months old and I guess still figuring out their routine. Every night I'd go back and check to make sure they were in bed, and put whoever wasn't to bed. A few weeks later they all figured it out and were reliably putting themselves in the coop at night. Once they were big enough they were sleeping on the roosts and not in a huddle on the coop floor. I had them since they were 1 week old, so they certainly needed training, not sure how long you've had your chickens. Now when the weather is not wet, I let them out two hours before sunset to forage, and they put themselves to bed reliably and all I have to do is close the door to the run, no more head counts before bed. They are not brilliant, but creatures of habit and will figure out the "lay of the land". Last week I put up a soccer goal for my kids and one girl got "trapped" in it,

After her mini panic, she found something to eat and forgot what she freaked out about, and wandered out from the goal and back to the flock.

 

[iwiw60]

Okay, thanks so much, I do appreciate your experience. I'll not worry about heating the coop and I had a tarp over half their run this summer for shade. Also got a regular shade cloth. We had a dandy of a storm a couple weeks ago and I arrived home just in time to see my "chicken tractor" floating three feet off the ground. The front stakes were holding but not the rear ones. So I bought a coop from the Amish here. Weighs about 1,000 pounds and I don't think the storms will shake it. Attached my "chicken tractor" to the coop for their run. If I can figure out how to attach a photo I will. I have one of the outside but not the inside yet, and it's dark now. My hens did all go into the coop tonight, by themselves. I had to go in and put them on the roost though. I had to laugh when I said to my daughter "Who would have thought I would have to teach my chickens to be chickens!" She said, "Well you know Mom, most chickens would have an adult chicken to teach them." Hmm - out of the mouths of babes.

That a nice setup you have there! I do have one question...what type of wire are you using on that attached tractor?

 

[Pressman]

I had a problem with mine going into the coop a few months back, but they were only three and a half months old and I guess still figuring out their routine. Every night I'd go back and check to make sure they were in bed, and put whoever wasn't to bed. A few weeks later they all figured it out and were reliably putting themselves in the coop at night. Once they were big enough they were sleeping on the roosts and not in a huddle on the coop floor. I had them since they were 1 week old, so they certainly needed training, not sure how long you've had your chickens. Now when the weather is not wet, I let them out two hours before sunset to forage, and they put themselves to bed reliably and all I have to do is close the door to the run, no more head counts before bed. They are not brilliant, but creatures of habit and will figure out the "lay of the land". Last week I put up a soccer goal for my kids and one girl got "trapped" in it,

After her mini panic, she found something to eat and forgot what she freaked out about, and wandered out from the goal and back to the flock.

Thanks for responding. I've had mine since they were two days old. I am happy to report that after a week and a half of putting them "to bed" they are all now going into the coop by themselves. Still not roosting though. I go in after they go to sleep and put them up on the roost. They stay there all night but are not getting up themselves. They are certainly capable as I have seen them on the roost during the day. Hopefully they'll get the idea pretty soon. I put straw out today in their run as we had so much rain it was a mess. Boy did they love it! Now their feet are staying dry.

 

[Pressman]

That a nice setup you have there! I do have one question...what type of wire are you using on that attached tractor?

It's half-inch hardware cloth. Very nice, stout yet easy to work with, and the racoons (I've been told) can't bite through it like they can regular poultry wire. Didn't get home in time to take a photo inside the coop, but I will try to get one posted.