New chickens not laying eggs. Help?!

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Happy hen lover said:
When my hens were young I used a night light to intice them into coop at dusk for awhile . I set on timer that got shorter and shorter. If no electricity you could set a solar in there. Do the young ones go in to roost without problems?
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The young ones I have trained pretty well. They come and go like they should and go in at dusk. Only complaint i have with the pullets is they still wont roost. I have three roost bars in there at two at 2 foot and one 4 foot. The new chickens hide under the roost most of the day and only 3 of them will go in at night. I had to get two out of a tall tree last night after putting my children to bed.
 
Happy hen lover said:
Maybe typo but 18 +8=36,,? Not that it matters for your question . What does everyone think of just shutting them in for a few days? Thoughts guys?
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typo, sorry. Im entertaining my 19 month old and 3 year old daughters, also cooking lunch, and trying to figure this out all at the same time. terrible multitasker here!
 
So you have almost 8 sq ft per hen in the coop, plenty of room. (200 sq ft / 26 hens). What is usually recommended is a minimum of 4 sq ft per hen, so crowding is not the issue. Are there any windows in the coop, or is it a totally dark, windowless box? Chickens don't see well in the dark, so they are not likely to go in if they can't see. Still thinking...
 
BigBlueHen53 said:
So you have almost 8 sq ft per hen in the coop, plenty of room. (200 sq ft / 26 hens). What is usually recommended is a minimum of 4 sq ft per hen, so crowding is not the issue. Are there any windows in the coop, or is it a totally dark, windowless box? Chickens don't see well in the dark, so they are not likely to go in if they can't see. Still thinking...
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There are two windows and an attic fan that we installed this summer. I was thinking of installing a dim night light to see if that helped.
 
CaseyMc91 said:
All three at 9 foot in length
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Nods. Uh-huh, yeah, that should be plenty. Well, nothing is jumping out at me that sounds like an obvious problem, so it's probably just that it's unfamiliar digs. My advice, as someone mentioned previously, is to go out there about dark, round them up and put them where you want them to roost. Then, two options. If it's not too hot, keep them locked up for at least three days and nights so they "home" to the coop, OR, go out there every night for a week or so and stick them in the coop. You might try bribing them in with a little bucket full of scratch, then close the door after they're in, if your setup allows.
 

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