My dingbat chicks refuse to come in for the night. Do I worry?

[TinyLittleFarm]

Some of my 6 weekers have hunkered down underneath their coop and I cannot get them out. Half an hour ago they were still frolicking about, but now they seem to be zonked out. They are sleeping in a nice little ball. We think the coop is predator proof, but haven't had anything try to get in yet, so I don't want them out there as bait! It's supposed to be a low of 59 tonight. 5 of them are in the coop and 6 are under it (raised coop, so part of the run is under). I've tried calling, bribing with favorite treats, banging on the hardware cloth right behind them...they won't budge. They just chirp at me.."Mom! I don't want to get up yet!"

Ugh. Will they be okay like that? Any other ideas?

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

I think you need to get them in. Maybe a broom? Shovel? even if the area is totally safe from predators (even weasels who can get through chicken wire?), it's too cold to be out in the wind.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

A broom, rake, board - anything you can sweep under there to gently scoot them out.

 

[Hippie-Witch]

Just a few hours ago I had to crawl in the run under the coop and round up chicks...feeling your pain! Either my husband or I has had to do it every day since Saturday when we moved them into the coop. It was suggested we leave them in the coop for a few days so they learn it's home. Hopefully that works, that run was not made for Mama to crawl under LOL
Hippie

 

[Laurie's Silkies]

Our coop is raised too and last year had the same problem. unfortunatly we lost 2 to a predator. After that fiasco we put fencing around the outside bottom of the coop. Now the young ones can't get under there anymore. I hope you get them out !!

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Go out half hour or even an hour before the sun sets. Take their fav treats and spread around the coop floor - when they are all in, shut the pop door for the night. You might have to do this for a couple days - then they should start heading in close to sundown, eat a bit and go to roost.

 

[Suechick]

Did you get them in yet?
I had to put my chickens in their coop every night for at least a month

until they learned where home was and they could jump up to roost at the top. I thought they would never learn,

but they are just slow to learn and we have to be patient with them. Now they go in on their own at least 1/2 hour before it gets dark.

 

[newchicksnducks]

Our chicks would go under the coop too. And since it was only 18" or so off the ground, it was impossible for us to crawl under to get them:/. We used broom handles at one end of the coop, pushing them towards the other end where someone would catch them as they came out and before they could re-enter under the coop! Until they are older and know to go inside at dusk, you might need to block the area under the coop off. Leaving them outside is just asking for predators to come for a midnight snack.

 

[patnjess]

this happened iwth my first batch of chicken they were picked off one by one. So know its probably obsessive but I don't let them out until they are about 4 months or so old and know where they are suppose to roost.

 

[Airilith]

Did you manage to get them into the coop last night?

This has happened with both batches of chicks I've kept in my raised coop. I've stomped around the coop to get them out, but that only worked the first time. A broom comes in quite handy. The one I have is bright green and they don't want to get anywhere near it.

I also setup fencing around the door to the run. That way when I do finally get them out I don't have to chase them around the yard. That's helped quite a bunch too.