Putting the girls into their new hen house-HELP!

[labradoodlemama]

Love your coop!! your girls are very lucky!

 

[RezChamp]

Hi karenhenkel
Most important is that they have a "non" stressful intro.
Throwing them in the midst of an unfamiliar setting and expecting them to know what to do is in my opinion a big no-no.
I put my birds in the coop in haphazard positions on the roosts when it's dark. Even when I bring new birds to an established flock I use this method.
When they "get up" in the morning it's a kind of "ease into the picture" scenario. The whole flock has "rested comfortably" together in a nice quiet "safe place" "free of danger" so new surroundings and/or newbies don't pose a threat, ...or in some instances "as much of a threat".
Pecking order will of course take place but not like throwing them in the pen during the day causing a heck of a ruckus.
Form my experience this method works for me.
Mind you, I live in a very rural area where it gets dark at night the way night is supposed to.
I really can't say whether or not it'll work in an urban or semi urban setting with all the artificial lighting though... ..simply because I live in the country.
I hope all works well for you and your birds. HAGD

 

[RezChamp]

PS. WOW & DANG WOW! Your coop is nicer than the first house I bought.
And yes, it won't be like that very long, but very very nice job.
There are a lot of home builders could do with a few lessons from you

 

[Lexie]

My girls were much easier than I expected. The first time in their coop we took them out at sunset and put them all on the perch. When we checked them later they were still there even though we didn't lock them in (they have an attached run). The next evening we went to put them on their perch and they were all already snuggled in for the night. We've had no issues.They like going in at night. The only problem we have is when we let them in the yard they want to fly. I'm planning to get a screened in gazebo thing for them to have supervised play during the day.

 

[byfarmer]

Super nice! Yuppers chickens want to fly. I let mine free range, but I happen to have plenty of space to do that. They fly up on the top of the goat pen, lower tree branches and anything else that looks interesting and comfy to them. Maybe some more chicken wire over the top of your run or some pet screen. I used chicken wire over my dog kennel when I first put my pullets outside.

 

[ZamundaFarm]

Love your digs, I hope everything works out great for the transition from brooder to coop. Soon I hope to have the same issue)

 

[Professor53]

When I let my hens out in the afternoons they fun and fly abit also. they are having fun.

 

[riyadh123]

i believe putting them in the house for 5 days and then letting them out definitely works!

 

[Mother-Rhodes]

TwoCrows ... what happens if i let them out too early? My girls are eight weeks old. I never taught them to bond to the coop so every evening I have to go outside and physically put them in the coop. Do i still put them in the coop for two days at this point?

 

[smithmj]

Your coop is absolutely gorgeous!