new hens

[chickenboy221]

i recently just got 3 new hens from a friend down the street and he told me it might take a week to get them selfs to like the coop and its been for 2 weeks now does any one know why it might be taking them so long now?:/

 

[math ace]

What makes you think they don't like the coop?

Do you have a pic of it?

 

[Ridgerunner]

You're not giving us much information to go on so all I can do is guess. It really would help to know why you think they don't like it.

My guess is that they may not be going in there to sleep so you think they don't like the coop. Chickens are creatures of habit. They get in the habit of sleeping in the same place every night. When you move them to a new location, they don't have any habits set up for that so they need to create some new ones.

If you lock them in the coop for about a week after you get them, they get used to that coop being home. They will usually go there to sleep and lay eggs in there. There are some exceptions but if you lock them in the coop for a week it usually works out pretty well.

If your coop is so tiny you can't leave them locked in there, you need to put them in the coop every night after they roost until they get in the habit of going in the coop to sleep. I've had to do this a few times with chicks moving from the brooder to the grow-out coop. Some catch on after one time while some take two or more weeks. But you have to do it each and every night until they catch on. Every now and then does not get it done.

How old are they? Do they normally roost or sleep on the ground or floor? If they are not roosting yet they may find a place they consider safe to huddle together on the ground. That's usually in a corner in a low protected place. If you coop is elevated, that may be outside the coop.

How dark is your coop inside compared to outside? Some coops get dark so early that they are too dark for the chickens to see how to go to bed by the time the outside gets dark enough for them to think about going to bed. Some people have had success where this is the problem by adding a very dim light on a timer at bedtime so they can see to go to bed or by adding a window to the coop.

There could be other reasons. I really don't know. I really suspect you need to show them where home is by locking them in there or putting them in there every night until they figure it out, but I really don't know enough about your situation to be able to say for sure.