None of my chickens will go into the coop at night!

[Auvi]

We have 6 Silkie Bantams (range from 4 - 10 weeks old). They all love to be outside in the run. The older chicks keep to themselves as do the younger ones, but they do interact w/ each other and have established pecking order.

They all sleep cuddled up to one another in the one corner of the run. The coop is ground level with a small step up to get through the door and has plenty of ventilation. I have noticed that they do go in and out of the coop during the day, sometimes catnap in there, sometimes just to roost a bit then come out.

We have put them into the coop every night for the past 5 - 6 weeks. Last night was the first night we did not put them into the coop (back injury).

The nights are already starting to drop into the mid-high 60s, and winter will be here before we know it. I'm concerned once the harsh winds and snow come.
How can I get my babies to go to the coop!?! I'm at a loss!

 

[Bear1978]

Do you have food and/or water in the coop? When I first moved mine into the coop I had both food and water in there with them BUT I kept them restricted to just the coop the first few days and nights in an attempt to help them understand that is where they sleep. The first couple of nights they didn’t figure out the whole roost thing, but eventually they did. After a few days of being solely in the coop I let them out until the fully enclosed chicken run. They had food and water out there too. After the smaller feeder inside the coop was empty, partially due to them knocking it over. I completely removed the food from the coop and just left the water in there. I go out about 7/7:30ish to clean out the poop boards before putting them to bed. Sometimes they are still out in the run pecking around and sometimes they are already in the coop. Usually if they are still out all I have to do is shoo them inside. So maybe try restricting them to the coop only for a few days if it had adequate ventilation along with food and water? At least that seemed to help mine understand the concept. But I’m not chicken expert! Good luck!

 

[RojoMarz]

Pics of the coop would be helpful. If it's what is shown in the current picture, it looks dark. Is there any light source or window? How big is the coop? How high is the roost and what is it made from?

 

[Auvi]

When we first moved them to the coop, I left them in the coop for 4 days w/ food and water. After that we let them out in the morning, they would come down the ramp that we lifted a bit and made stairs with bricks to help.

Now that they are not in the coop I keep their water/food in the run. They are put to bed around 9 pm at night (their bedtime liking) and I let them out around 7 am.

When it comes to bedtime again, they like to sleep in the front left corner of the run. Now it's weeks later and we are still putting them into the coop at night.

Do you have food and/or water in the coop? When I first moved mine into the coop I had both food and water in there with them BUT I kept them restricted to just the coop the first few days and nights in an attempt to help them understand that is where they sleep. The first couple of nights they didn’t figure out the whole roost thing, but eventually they did. After a few days of being solely in the coop I let them out until the fully enclosed chicken run. They had food and water out there too. After the smaller feeder inside the coop was empty, partially due to them knocking it over. I completely removed the food from the coop and just left the water in there. I go out about 7/7:30ish to clean out the poop boards before putting them to bed. Sometimes they are still out in the run pecking around and sometimes they are already in the coop. Usually if they are still out all I have to do is shoo them inside. So maybe try restricting them to the coop only for a few days if it had adequate ventilation along with food and water? At least that seemed to help mine understand the concept. But I’m not chicken expert! Good luck!

 

[Auvi]

This is the coop. When I first moved them to it, we left them in the coop for 4 days before letting them out. Then the heat wave came so we let them out, they do their normal chicken stuff during the day, they go up and down the ramp, they sit (rare) sometimes on that roost bar, they will go in the coop during the day. When it comes to bedtime they like that lower front left corner of the run. So my husband built a box w/ vent holes around around the top edge and attached it to the side front right of the coop. It comes up to the roost bar height, the entire width of the coop and 2 ft deep (38"Lx24"Hx24"D) it's just for them to sleep in. We figured if it was on the bottom they might use it. Well like the higher coop, they go in and out of it all day long but at night time, they are in that one corner in the run. My Silkies do NOT roost, they rather cuddle up w/ each other in a corner. The roost in the coop we put a 2x4 and beveled the side edges. During the day they will sit on those but not when they sleep.
Also this coop is just temp while their coop is being built (8ftx5ft ground level) w/ a 12ftx20ft run.

Pics of the coop would be helpful. If it's what is shown in the current picture, it looks dark. Is there any light source or window? How big is the coop? How high is the roost and what is it made from?

 

[aart]

First pic does not look like the other 2?
Pics of actual coop being used, inside and out, would help here.
Guessing not enough ventilation.

Welcome to BYC! @Auvi
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[Mamatomany123]

We have 6 Silkie Bantams (range from 4 - 10 weeks old). They all love to be outside in the run. The older chicks keep to themselves as do the younger ones, but they do interact w/ each other and have established pecking order.

They all sleep cuddled up to one another in the one corner of the run. The coop is ground level with a small step up to get through the door and has plenty of ventilation. I have noticed that they do go in and out of the coop during the day, sometimes catnap in there, sometimes just to roost a bit then come out.

We have put them into the coop every night for the past 5 - 6 weeks. Last night was the first night we did not put them into the coop (back injury).

The nights are already starting to drop into the mid-high 60s, and winter will be here before we know it. I'm concerned once the harsh winds and snow come.
How can I get my babies to go to the coop!?! I'm at a loss!

Pictures of this coop would help.

 

[Will the chicken guy]

We have 6 Silkie Bantams (range from 4 - 10 weeks old). They all love to be outside in the run. The older chicks keep to themselves as do the younger ones, but they do interact w/ each other and have established pecking order.

They all sleep cuddled up to one another in the one corner of the run. The coop is ground level with a small step up to get through the door and has plenty of ventilation. I have noticed that they do go in and out of the coop during the day, sometimes catnap in there, sometimes just to roost a bit then come out.

We have put them into the coop every night for the past 5 - 6 weeks. Last night was the first night we did not put them into the coop (back injury).

The nights are already starting to drop into the mid-high 60s, and winter will be here before we know it. I'm concerned once the harsh winds and snow come.
How can I get my babies to go to the coop!?! I'm at a loss!

What's in the coop you need to make the coop a fun place to be! Maybe by having the feed in their or even by adding some special treats in there!

 

[Mamatomany123]

What's in the coop you need to make the coop a fun place to be! Maybe by having the feed in their or even by adding some special treats in there!

I dont think you need to make it a fun place. Mine go in willingly, even the babies when they were 3 weeks old. Plenty of ventilation and sq ft is needed.