Newbies - getting chicks in/out of coop

I'm a newbie myself, but I've read a lot of people questioning how to get chicks to come out of the coop the first time and then how to get them back inside. I thought I'd share my experience and what I've accidentally learned in the hopes it may work for others.

We raised our day old chicks in a brooder in a spare bedroom for the first 2 weeks. At 2 weeks, we put them in their coop. The chicken yard wasn't fenced yet, so we just let them stay inside their coop and get used to their new home for about a week. It wasn't really intentional - I would have let them out right away, but the fence wasn't ready - but I think it was a really good thing because this taught them to be comfortable and feel safe - and associate the coop with these feelings and know it is "home".

After about a week, the fence was complete and we had a shrimp net over the entire top of the chicken yard to protect them from aerial assault. We opened the coop door to let them out while we waited in the chicken yard for them. For about an hour, there were no takers. Then one of the cockerels came out into the yard and started eating ants like crazy. I felt that was a measure of success - until he got spooked (long story) and managed to squeeze his fat body between 2 of the wires of the field fencing we used for the chicken yard fence. Long story short, I caught him and decided they wouldn't be going into the chicken yard again for a while.

Instead, I stapled a piece of chicken wire over the opening of their chicken run door and opened the door of their chicken door each morning and closed each afternoon for a week. This allowed them to get used to the environment just outside that chicken door and familiar with us walking around each day and the noises we make. They spent a lot of time right at the chicken door looking through the chicken wire and sun bathing.

When they were 4 weeks old (a week after the above incident) we put chicken wire all around the inside of the field fencing of their chicken run so no one could escape again. Then I removed the chicken wire from their chicken door. The minute I removed the chicken wire, almost all of them came outside immediately. They were very comfortable - and I believe it was because they had gotten used to that area immediately outside the little door they looked through each day for a week or so.

So, I tell you all of the above to suggest that what I accidentally experienced may help you when you go to let your chickens out. In a nutshell:

- Keep your chicks inside the chicken coop for at least a week to get them used to their new home.
- After a week (or maybe even when you first put them in the coop) cover their chicken door opening with chicken wire and open the chicken door each day to familiarize them with that opening and what goes on just outside of it.
- When you decide to let them go outside, insure the chicken yard is secure, and then remove the chicken wire.

Just a note about insuring the safety of your chicks - chicken wire is great for keeping chicks in, but it will not keep all predators out. You probably know that - I only mention it as a warning to keep an eye on your chicks (especially while very small) while in the coop with the chicken wire over the chicken door to insure a snake doesn't get in there. We never had an issue with that - but it was the one thing that worried me the most. But then - I'm a worrier

As for getting them back in the coop, the first night I decided when they should be inside and spent half the night chasing the handful that didn't go in on their own. It wasn't fun for any of us. Every night since then, I just keep an eye on the coop every few minutes starting around 7 PM, and sure enough, at some point they all decide on their own (between 7:15 and 8:00) that it is time and every one of them go inside the coop on their own. Then I run outside and close them in. So my lesson in all of this has been to be patient and let them tell ME when it's time to go to bed.

I realize that not everyone will have the same type set up as we have - and may not have the same results as I did by doing the above. But, then again, you may. I just thought I'd offer my experience and maybe give some newbies an option to try.

I'm sure others with more experience have some suggestions that they can weigh in with. This forum has been SO helpful to me, I just figured I'd try to help someone else if I can.

Hope this thread helps.

Take care,
Penny

 

I hope it works for you, Trudy. Keeping them inside and letting them look through the chicken door with the safety of the chicken wire there for a week or so really seemed to help my chicks when it came time to go outside. Before that, they acted to frightened to go outside, but after having the chicken door open every day, all day, when the chicken wire window was removed, they tumbled right out without trepidation. Let me know if it works for you! Hopefully yours will be as good as mine when it comes to deciding it's time to go inside for the night

Penny

 

I'd be interested to see how it works for you, chickennewbie. Please be sure to let us know. Good luck!

Penny