Question about getting chickens to bed

[Hairydadrock]

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?

yeah I know exactly what you mean! I have one that I've had to put to bed every night for 2 years! She still doesn't get it.also during the summer months it's particularly difficult, I found that telling them to go to bed seems to work for me.

 

[texsuze]

Maybe it's a problem with the ramp? Have you seen them use it on their own throughout the day?

Yep, girls are very adept at ramps and steps, which I probably have too many of. They also exit the coop via the ramp in the mornings, although I've not actually witnessed this taking place.

I think with my girls, all it takes is one pullet to balk, and the entire pod abandons the activity . If I could get our game camera working again, it might prove helpful....

 

[jelibn1980]

Im new to all this, but what time are you going out there? Mine have only been outside for 2 weeks (they are 6-7 weeks old) and if we go out too early they arent inside. But anything after 830 and they put themselves to bed. I noticed i kept going too early!

 

[cp2894_]

The shortening of days may delay onset of laying, so you might find that to be the case instead.

Ahhh ok. That's good to know. Otherwise I'd be worried about them starting late. Thank you!

 

[cp2894_]

Some of the key words in this are may, can, might, it's possible, and especially some. Don't take anything as every time, 100%, without fail. People tend to do that with this topic and many others.

When they were feral, chickens would lay eggs and hatch chicks during the good weather months and stop laying eggs when the days got shorter and food got harder to find. Their feathers would wear out and need to be replaced, so when the days got shorter in the fall they'd quit laying, molt, and use the nutrients that were going into making eggs to grow new feathers. When the weather got better in the spring they started the cycle again.

We domesticated them and selectively bred some of them to lay a lot more and not go broody so often. We feed them well in the fall and winter. Some people mess with the lights, some don't. They still follow the basic patterns of molting when the days get shorter but not all totally stop laying when they molt. Practically all do but there are some exceptions. With chickens there are always exceptions to any rule. Not all wait until the nice days of spring before they start laying after the molt. Some pullets skip the molt their first fall/winter and continue to lay throughout the winter. Some don't lay throughout their first winter. High production chickens, whether a breed, hybrid, or barnyard mix are more prone to starting to lay earlier than spring or lay throughout the winter. The decorative chickens still can but are less likely to.

This light thing. Light is very important to chickens. The change in length of the day is important especially to tell them to molt or crank up laying again. Light also tells them when to release a yolk to start the internal egg making process. You read on here that they need a certain length of light before they lay. That has not been my experience. The commercial egg laying operations have worked out their system the way they feed them, house them, and manage them that somewhere around 16 hours of light is the most efficient to get the most quality eggs out of their chickens. They have ways so that every hen in the flock eats what she needs for maximum egg production and that no one hogs the feed. We don't manage them that way.

The longer the length of day the more time available for the triggers (there are more than one trigger) that tell them to start an egg to work. This works so the egg is laid in the daytime, not at night when they are on the roost. The longer the light the more time they have to eat so they get more nutrition to make an egg. This affects the size of the egg but also frequency.

I've had hens finish the molt and resume laying before the days even start to get longer. I've had pullets lay a lot of eggs during the shortest days of the year. In Arkansas that was about 10 hours of light a day. In Pennsylvania your shortest days will be a bit shorter since you are further north. It is still quite possible you will get some eggs, and maybe a lot, from some of your pullets without extending the lights. Don't count on it but don't be surprised if it happens.

Wow that's so interesting! Thank you for explaining all that! I'm excited to see what happens with my 5 girls

 

[cp2894_]

Yep, girls are very adept at ramps and steps, which I probably have too many of. They also exit the coop via the ramp in the mornings, although I've not actually witnessed this taking place.

I think with my girls, all it takes is one pullet to balk, and the entire pod abandons the activity . If I could get our game camera working again, it might prove helpful....

The camera sounds like a great idea. Just to get an idea of what exactly they're doing or any issues they might be experiencing. Wishing you luck!

 

[cp2894_]

Im new to all this, but what time are you going out there? Mine have only been outside for 2 weeks (they are 6-7 weeks old) and if we go out too early they arent inside. But anything after 830 and they put themselves to bed. I noticed i kept going too early!

That seemed to be the problem. After making this forum the past two nights I just left them alone and sure enough they went in all by themselves a little after 9. All that time spent chasing them around when it just wasn't dark enough for them yet lol. I had been putting them in at 9 and turns out they just needed another 10 min.

 

[Missyschix13]

That seemed to be the problem. After making this forum the past two nights I just left them alone and sure enough they went in all by themselves a little after 9. All that time spent chasing them around when it just wasn't dark enough for them yet lol. I had been putting them in at 9 and turns out they just needed another 10 min.

I'm glad to hear that hanging out for a little bit made all the difference! It's so much nicer to just know they'll go in and I can come by later and shut the door. Ahhh...it's the little things in life isn't it?

 

[texsuze]

I might try the "later" suggestion tonight, myself. Nights are coming earlier, but my girls are still parked on top of the nest box compartment at 9pm, as remnants of the last glow of twilight are nearly gone. They look pretty well set for the night at that time. To me, it is dark, but maybe not to my girls. I don't want to freak them out by appearing at the door in total darkness, but we'll see.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It doesn't bother me to freak them out when I'm trying to break them of a bad habit. I would not want them to think that sleeping on top of that nest is the safest place they can find. Maybe where you are putting them is safer.

I'm trying to remember, didn't someone else mention something about the tops of your nests outside being higher than the roosts inside the coop? That could be part of your problem.