Question about getting chickens to bed

[cp2894_]

So my 5 birds have been moved into their coop and run for a little over a month. I had read that they needed to stay solely in their coop for the first couple days to a week to learn where their home was and make it easier to get them to go back inside at night. I would've kept them in their longer, but there was a heatwave after the 3rd day and it was cooler outside than in their coop and I had read 3 days should be fine. However they haven't been going in their coop at night on their own. Every night I have to pick them each up and place them in their coop. Some of them cooperate but the others run around and do not wanna go in. Is this normal? Is there any way to get them all to go in voluntarily?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

It takes about two weeks for new birds to adjust, sometimes longer. Just keep putting them in every night, and eventually they'll get used to the new place, and go in when they're supposed to.

 

[Tonyroo]

How old are they?

My 12 chicks at the time we're a month old, going into there brooder coop on there own. I don't have a ramp for them so they had to grow wing feathers to fly to it. It took me about week to get them trained. But they also learned some from watching there parents do it in the big coop.

 

[Missyschix13]

I locked mine in for the mass of the day for about a week. Took mine a couple of weeks to figure it out. Although I was starting to worry like you and did exactly what you did by hand picking them up and in. Not all went very willingly. Lol I didn't witness the first time they went in on their own. My son did. So one evening I went out just about a half hour before sunset and just waited. Sure enough they walked right in. Took a little patience. As worried chicken owners we want them in for their protection. But just sit and watch for a little bit and see what they do. They are more protected with you out there, so waiting a little bit won't be a danger to them. Just don't walk away. You might be surprised. They probably would have done it on their own sooner if I just had been a little more patient. Good luck!

 

[dragonfliesdraw]

I locked mine in for the mass of the day for about a week. Took mine a couple of weeks to figure it out. Although I was starting to worry like you and did exactly what you did by hand picking them up and in. Not all went very willingly. Lol I didn't witness the first time they went in on their own. My son did. So one evening I went out just about a half hour before sunset and just waited. Sure enough they walked right in. Took a little patience. As worried chicken owners we want them in for their protection. But just sit and watch for a little bit and see what they do. They are more protected with you out there, so waiting a little bit won't be a danger to them. Just don't walk away. You might be surprised. They probably would have done it on their own sooner if I just had been a little more patient. Good luck!

Thank you for this very helpful info. We are newbies with our flock (3 days) and have been experiencing this same issue.

 

[Missyschix13]

Thank you for this very helpful info. We are newbies with our flock (3 days) and have been experiencing this same issue.

Glad to help. . In the meantime, if they aren't going in on their own just keep putting them in. They'll figure it.

 

[cp2894_]

How old are they?

My 12 chicks at the time we're a month old, going into there brooder coop on there own. I don't have a ramp for them so they had to grow wing feathers to fly to it. It took me about week to get them trained. But they also learned some from watching there parents do it in the big coop.

They're about 10 weeks old. We moved them outside at around 5 or 6 weeks old I'd say (it was hard to tell what age they were). A ramp was built for them and they go in and out just fine during the day but get pretty stubborn around bedtime lol.

 

[cp2894_]

I locked mine in for the mass of the day for about a week. Took mine a couple of weeks to figure it out. Although I was starting to worry like you and did exactly what you did by hand picking them up and in. Not all went very willingly. Lol I didn't witness the first time they went in on their own. My son did. So one evening I went out just about a half hour before sunset and just waited. Sure enough they walked right in. Took a little patience. As worried chicken owners we want them in for their protection. But just sit and watch for a little bit and see what they do. They are more protected with you out there, so waiting a little bit won't be a danger to them. Just don't walk away. You might be surprised. They probably would have done it on their own sooner if I just had been a little more patient. Good luck!

Thank you! That's very helpful. They did go in by themselves one night when we accidentally put them to bed later than usual (only 15 min max later) and were on their roost before I even walked outside so I know they understand what to do luckily. I'll give sitting out there a try to see if making them feel protected will make them go in sooner. I think that one night they got tired of waiting lol.

 

[Missyschix13]

Thank you! That's very helpful. They did go in by themselves one night when we accidentally put them to bed later than usual (only 15 min max later) and were on their roost before I even walked outside so I know they understand what to do luckily. I'll give sitting out there a try to see if making them feel protected will make them go in sooner. I think that one night they got tired of waiting lol.

They use the sun light to decide when to go in. Figure out when sunset is and it's usually right before that. Right now my gang is headed in right around 8-8:15. Earlier in the month it was 8:30. But now that the sun is setting earlier they moved the time up.

 

[Ridgerunner]

When I first started reading this thread I thought, yeah this sounds typical. Even more so when I read it was an elevated coop. I have a lot more trouble with this if the coop is elevated than a ground level coop. I think that's because until they start sleeping on the roosts they like to sleep in a group on the low spot. The low spot for me is under the pop door. My solution is to consistently lock them in the coop at night until they learn to put themselves to bed up there. My broods are typically around 20 chicks. I had one group put themselves to bed up there after only one night of putting them to bed up there. A couple of times it took three weeks for the last few to learn to go in. Each group is different but it's not unusual for them to all learn to go in after a week to 10 days.

Then I read this.

They did go in by themselves one night when we accidentally put them to bed later than usual (only 15 min max later) and were on their roost before I even walked outside so I know they understand what to do luckily

They don't go to bed until it is getting dark. The signal to them to go to bed is that it is getting dark. I wait until they have put themselves to bed under the pop door to start putting them inside. They are a lot easier to catch if it is dark enough that they have already settled down for the night, though the last ones seem to wake up.

I think you taught them where to sleep a long time ago but haven't been giving them a chance to do it themselves.