Night time advice

[TheSpeckledRoo]

I am having problems with my girls coming back to the coop at night. I open their pen door in the morning to let them free range. When it starts to get dark out sometimes i am missing a hen! I think the hen may be sleeping in the neighbors barn where she houses goats. Does anyone have advice about getting my girls back to the coop? I fear a raccoon might get them :s

 

[morsekathan]

Mine had this problem too for the first couple of days. They wanted to roost in the trees and we had to get them down and put them in the coop. Way too many raccoons here! I finally locked them the coop for a day. That seemed to do the trick. They also have a small fenced area around their coop that I kept them in for several more days until I was sure everyone was going in at night. No problems since, except one night when one hen decided to "go camping." I check the house every night now and count!

 

[chickencoop789]

My chickens like to sleep on top of my grill! I just carry them over to their coop every night.

 

[1muttsfan]

As said above, try keeping the birds shut in the coop - it may take several days - to get her used to going to bed on the perch, instead of settling in somewhere else. Once it becomes a habit she should return each night.

 

[TheSpeckledRoo]

Thanks for all the advice everyone

 

[dreamcatcherarabians]

I had one bird who thought she was a guinea and wanted to roost with them. My guineas are "mine" only because I feed them regularly, they just sort of appeared one day. This particular hen could be locked in the coop for weeks on end, she still would go up with the guineas first chance she got. When they roosted up on top of my run, I'd just take her and put her in the coop. Once she went up in the big old Digger Pine, that was that, I wasn't climbing the tree to get her down. Mentally I pretty much said, "Good Bye" to her and let her do her own thing. It ended as I knew it would, one morning I went out and found her body. So, if you have your chickens as pets, I'd try everything and then some to get her to go in the coop. If they're pretty much just for egg production and you're not too attached, you can let her do her own thing but know how it will eventually end.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I had a problem with a certain group of hens. I started going out right before roosting time with their treat cup, I use the same cup every day for treats and they all know this cup and come running, I sprinkle whatever the treat of the day is behind me tiny pieces to make a trail to the coop once were I want them I dump the cup. It took a few nights but they got it, so now when I go out with the cup they run to the coop and wait inside the door for me to bring treats. It is funny, my young cochin wil stand there in the door way jumping up and down and dancing impatiently like a 3 year old.