new here and need help

[chickyluv]

we bought 6 pure bred hens last weekend age 7 weeks,i was told to get them used to their home and where they are to sleep for about a week before we let them free range but they wont go in to the darkened section of the hen house when its dark they want to stay in the run cuddled up in a corner and so far each night we have had to pick them up and put them in physically,can someone tell us what we are doing wrong and how to fix this problem.

 

[FutureChickenMan]

The two things I can think of is they just haven't aclimated to their environment yet or they're cold. You didn't mention if the coop has a heat source in it or not. I think I'd start with that first. Put a light in the coop to warm it up a bit and see if that makes any difference.

Once they "get with the program" they'll put themselves to bed around dusk all on their own.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

I think the advice is that you should keep them in the actual coop night & day for at least a week non-stop. They will get attached to sleeping in the coop.

Then after a week or so, when you let them out in the run or free-range them during the day, they will automatically go back into the coop at sunset. Right now they don't know the difference between the run and the coop.

By the way, congratulations on your new chickens, and welcome to BYC, the best forum on the web!

 

[Poison Ivy]

Yes keep them in the coop for a week. Then let them out in the run to see if they go back on their own. If not you keep them locked in the coop for a few more days they should get the idea by then.

 

[silkiechicken]

Another thing is, if they were brooded to 7 weeks under a lit heat lamp, they might be afraid of the dark.

 

[Smitty's Farm]

Do you turn on a light when it is dark? We turn one on to draw ours into the coop at night. The light is attached by an extention cord that leads from our garage to the coop. I let them eat and drink while I lock their pop door up tight. I go and count all of them and say good night. Then I pull the extention cord out of the wall to turn off the light, so that I'm not going back into coop to disturb them after they are settled. I will add a timer eventually, but I like going out there and saying good night to them.

The above advise is good about locking them up for a week to get acclimated to new environment. When ours made the big move to the coop, I think we would round them up at night, shut them up in the coop and then leave them in coop until about 11 am the next morning and then let them out in the run. About a week of that, they would file in by theirselves at night. After the time change we have a few that love to stay out in the dark.

Go......Follow.......into the light! Good luck! They will adjust.