New coop after storm. How do I get them to use it?

[aart]

It has good ventilation and they really wouldn’t overheat in there, they just looked so pathetic when I checked on them and I felt mean, so I let them out.

Oh, well then. <shrugs>

 

[Ridgerunner]

I usually have to lock my chicks up at night to train them where to sleep when I move them to my grow-out coop, even if I leave them locked in there for a week. Each group is different but are usually in the 20 chicken range for numbers. Sometimes they all catch on in just a few days, I have had some go three weeks before all of them caught on. Most of the time it takes about a week for all of them to catch on. It does help to house them in there for a while but it doesn't always work by itself.

 

[Bluesilkies]

Looks like that’s what I will have to do.
I’m finding it interesting that the location of their old house seems to be what is drawing them back. I moved the tree branch to behind the foundations, now most of them are sleeping on the foundations, almost completely exposed. Makes me wonder if I had built the new house exactly there, they would be in it by now.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I’m finding it interesting that the location of their old house seems to be what is drawing them back. I moved the tree branch to behind the foundations, now most of them are sleeping on the foundations, almost completely exposed. Makes me wonder if I had built the new house exactly there, they would be in it by now.

They're keyed in to location, yes. When I built my new coop, it was only about 10' away from the old one (and I removed the old one). After locking the chickens into the new coop for 48 hours, I let them out, and the next evening 2 of the birds returned to the location of the old one and simply sat on the ground for the night. I picked them up, put them in the new coop, and they figured it out from that point on.

 

[Bluesilkies]

They're keyed in to location, yes. When I built my new coop, it was only about 10' away from the old one (and I removed the old one). After locking the chickens into the new coop for 48 hours, I let them out, and the next evening 2 of the birds returned to the location of the old one and simply sat on the ground for the night. I picked them up, put them in the new coop, and they figured it out from that point on.

Looks like we are going to have a stormy weekend, so probably a good time to try lock them in. One of the younger ones put herself to bed in there last night though! I felt like I had won the Lottery