My Chicks Won't go to Bed!

[dobbisha]

Good morning! I come to you with a question this morning regarding bedtime. A few facts first. I have three Barred Rocks and three Tetra Browns who are about six weeks old. My chicks are free range when we are out in the yard or confined when we are gone or can't keep a watchful eye on them. I'm including an image of our coop/run set up. It is an enclosed run with the coop above. There is one roosting bar in the run and two in the coop. There are three nesting boxes inside the coop The image shows no door on the coop, we have added one so they can be closed in at night.

Every night one of my kids, usually my daughter pictured below because she's the only one that can fit in the coop, goes out before they (the kids) go to bed to put the chicks to bed. They run from her and cry when they're put in the coop. They peck at the doors and I even had one the other night try to fly out the back window (not shown) and she ran into the wall (she's ok). Two of my smarty pants hide in that back right corner of the run, under the coop. The same two every night. They know that none of us, not even my daughter, can reach them under there. Once they are all in, we close the door that we have now added to the coop. Oh the crying and carrying on! However, it only lasts a few minutes and they are quiet. On nice nights we crack the windows on the coop so that some of the street light can light it up a bit, like a nightlight. In the morning they are crying and pecking to get out but here's the funny part. They get up, come down to the run, eat and drink for a few minutes and then go right back up into the coop and they spend a lot of the day up there! We have got to be doing something wrong here. All of my research suggests that they should be leading themselves up to the coop on their own by now.

My first thought is we're putting them up too early. My kids go to bed early during the week when school is in, 7:30 for the little ones. At this time of year, it's still very bright out.
My second thought is that they don't like being closed up in the coop.
My final thought is that their food and water is not up there. There is no room for it. That enclosed coop only has the three nesting boxes and two roosts that sit over a removable poop tray.

I've read and read and now I'd like to tap into the wealth of experience here at BYC for some thoughts or suggestions. Thank you in advance.

 

[lazy gardener]

Good morning! I come to you with a question this morning regarding bedtime. A few facts first. I have three Barred Rocks and three Tetra Browns who are about six weeks old. My chicks are free range when we are out in the yard or confined when we are gone or can't keep a watchful eye on them. I'm including an image of our coop/run set up. It is an enclosed run with the coop above. There is one roosting bar in the run and two in the coop. There are three nesting boxes inside the coop The image shows no door on the coop, we have added one so they can be closed in at night.

Every night one of my kids, usually my daughter pictured below because she's the only one that can fit in the coop, goes out before they (the kids) go to bed to put the chicks to bed. They run from her and cry when they're put in the coop. They peck at the doors and I even had one the other night try to fly out the back window (not shown) and she ran into the wall (she's ok). Two of my smarty pants hide in that back right corner of the run, under the coop. The same two every night. They know that none of us, not even my daughter, can reach them under there. Once they are all in, we close the door that we have now added to the coop. Oh the crying and carrying on! However, it only lasts a few minutes and they are quiet. On nice nights we crack the windows on the coop so that some of the street light can light it up a bit, like a nightlight. In the morning they are crying and pecking to get out but here's the funny part. They get up, come down to the run, eat and drink for a few minutes and then go right back up into the coop and they spend a lot of the day up there! We have got to be doing something wrong here. All of my research suggests that they should be leading themselves up to the coop on their own by now.

My first thought is we're putting them up too early. My kids go to bed early during the week when school is in, 7:30 for the little ones. At this time of year, it's still very bright out.
My second thought is that they don't like being closed up in the coop.
My final thought is that their food and water is not up there. There is no room for it. That enclosed coop only has the three nesting boxes and two roosts that sit over a removable poop tray.

I've read and read and now I'd like to tap into the wealth of experience here at BYC for some thoughts or suggestions. Thank you in advance.

Are there any windows in that coop? Also, how much ventilation does it have? I see these as your biggest issues. I would be sure there is lots of natural lighting in the coop, and then start giving them some treats in there during the day. You can set up the windows so they provide the needed ventilation, or add some vents that will allow fresh air in while blocking rain/snow from entering. Then, if a few days of this does not fix the problem, you might consider adding a battery powered night light. Have it come on before dusk, and then turn it off after they have gone to roost. IMO, they freak out b/c they view the coop as a dark dungeon. When you moved them into the coop, did you put them in the coop for 3 - 4 continuous days/nights so they would view THE COOP as home? If they went straight from brooder to the lower level run, they never learned that the coop was home. As they mature, you may find that the coop is too small. General recommendation is 4 s.f. in the coop and 10 s.f. in the run per chicken to avoid aggression issues.

 

[JurassicBawk]

I think you are putting them up too early. My chickens gladly and happily put themselves to bed at dusk, and sleep on top of their house inside their enclosed pen. If I try to put them inside their house early (usually because of a storm) they throw a fit and will peck at their windows and doors trying to get out.

That coop is also very small for 6 chickens. They need a minimum of 4 sq ft floor room AND 12" of roost room PER CHICKEN in the house/sleeping quarters, and ideally 10 sq ft each in the run. (I purposely had my chicken house made 4x4 so that I couldn't get in trouble with chicken math because my house is "full" with 16 sq ft and 4 chickens. They have a 100 sq ft run and still think it's too small.) I don't know if the nesting boxes are external or built inside the coop, but they shouldn't really count for floor space since they will not usually sleep in them unless there is absolutely no other room. None of the prebuilt coops I've seen are appropriate for more than a couple chickens, despite what the box says. Once those chickens get older, you're going to have a very hard time cramming 6 of them in there.

 

[newshound]

I think you are putting them up too early. My chickens gladly and happily put themselves to bed at dusk, and sleep on top of their house inside their enclosed pen. If I try to put them inside their house early (usually because of a storm) they throw a fit and will peck at their windows and doors trying to get out.

That coop is also very small for 6 chickens. They need a minimum of 4 sq ft floor room AND 12" of roost room PER CHICKEN in the house/sleeping quarters, and ideally 10 sq ft each in the run. (I purposely had my chicken house made 4x4 so that I couldn't get in trouble with chicken math because my house is "full" with 16 sq ft and 4 chickens. They have a 100 sq ft run and still think it's too small.) I don't know if the nesting boxes are external or built inside the coop, but they shouldn't really count for floor space since they will not usually sleep in them unless there is absolutely no other room. None of the prebuilt coops I've seen are appropriate for more than a couple chickens, despite what the box says. Once those chickens get older, you're going to have a very hard time cramming 6 of them in there.

 

[dobbisha]

Are there any windows in that coop? Also, how much ventilation does it have? I see these as your biggest issues. I would be sure there is lots of natural lighting in the coop, and then start giving them some treats in there during the day. You can set up the windows so they provide the needed ventilation, or add some vents that will allow fresh air in while blocking rain/snow from entering. Then, if a few days of this does not fix the problem, you might consider adding a battery powered night light. Have it come on before dusk, and then turn it off after they have gone to roost. IMO, they freak out b/c they view the coop as a dark dungeon. When you moved them into the coop, did you put them in the coop for 3 - 4 continuous days/nights so they would view THE COOP as home? If they went straight from brooder to the lower level run, they never learned that the coop was home. As they mature, you may find that the coop is too small. General recommendation is 4 s.f. in the coop and 10 s.f. in the run per chicken to avoid aggression issues.

Yes, there are two windows that open and close. One is on the back and not visible in the image I posted. One is on the side above my daughter's head in the image. Those windows are always open unless it is storming or if it's going to be a chilly night. The front of the coop, where the door and ramp are does not go all the way up to the roof inside. That concerned me about predators but it does let in more air and light to the coop.

When we began transitioning them to the coop, they originally spent the days out there first for about a week and we would bring them in at night. They did explore the coop area and roost on the roosting bars inside as well as outside in the run but we did not put them in the coop area exclusively. They were allowed to be out in the run and also be out in the yard with us. I would like to experiment with them to see if they go up on their own when they're ready but I'm afraid they'll end up down in the run all night. While it's enclosed, I feel it still leaves them too exposed. I can't get in there to put them up if they don't go up themselves and my kids are asleep, at least on school nights. Maybe we'll try it this weekend. If they don't go up, I can send one of my little ones out there.

As for a nightlight, we have a large street light that is actually in our yard. It provides a lot of light. They are just on the outskirts of its reaches but it does light up the coop. Do you think I need more than that?

 

[lazy gardener]

That street light may be the very reason why they are not going into the coop at night. If the light shines into their run, making it bright there, they may not go into the coop. Possibly, you might be pleasantly surprised if you wait and see what they do this weekend. It's certainly easier to catch a chicken after dark!!!

 

[jwbutler123]

I have the same problem with 10 10wk old black australoops. When the sun has gone down they huddle in a corner of the run. I've had chickens for 5 years and have never seen this before. When I first put them in the big coop I left them in there for four days. Then I isolated them in the coop for another 4 day period after a week of having to put them in the coop at night but when I let them out the second time they still stayed outside.