One chicken will not go into coop at night

[Derek321]

Hi .. I finally have my coop and run built and my 9 week old girls out in the run. 7 of my hens will go into the coop at dusk, but I have one girl that just sits at the front of the run by the door and won't go in. She is by far my most friendly and inquisitive bird. The first night I just picked her up and put her into the coop. The second night I tried to wait her out, but by the time it was dark, she was still sitting by the front of the coop. I tried using a light inside the coop but that did not help. Any tips to train her to go in by herself? I close the door manually right now so its not a big deal to put her in, but it would be nice to have all the birds trained to go in at night so I can do an automatic door in the future.

 

[smudge]

Keep trying.

What breed is this?

 

[AlleysChicks]

Yep keep trying. It took my older chicks a week before they all went in by themselves. Took my bantams close to 3 weeks. My older chickens (will turn 1 year next month) like the light in the coop to go in. About half will stand on the ramp waiting lol

 

[ChickenCanoe]

As creatures of habit, you just have to keep putting them in the coop so that's where they know to sleep at night and eventually they'll all go in.

 

[Derek321]

Thanks for the responses. I'll keep at it. This particular one is a barred rock.

I was worried that by putting her in myself I would mess her up somehow. But on the other hand, the coop is secure but the run isn't so she must get in there at night.

 

[Derek321]

She went in by herself last night .. yeah! Let's hope she keeps it up!