refusing to go to bed and roost

[ngrybrd]

ive searched the forum but nothing comes up for me. so i have 6 chickens out in the coop so far 3 Rhode Island reds, and 3 barred rocks, all 5 months old. they refuse to go in for the night. we've even waited longer to see if we were just trying to put them to bed too early or something. but every night, they just pile up in a "chicken ball" as we call it, in the far side of their chicken run. all piled up starting to go to sleep. weve done the recommended "coop training", leaving them in for a whole week to establish it as their home. the one week didnt work, so we tried a second week, and still it didnt work. so every night, we have to go in the run, and pick up every chicken, put it on the ramp into their coop, and give them a little tap on the butt so they start walking up the ramp into the coop. some times a RIR will do this voluntarily once we start (chicken patty, shes the smart one) then once they are in the coop, they refuse to roost. we have a nice 1.5" round dowel in there about 15 inches off the floor and even if we place them on the roost, they hop right off. now this is strange to me because in their brooder, they ALL loved hopping up the roost. but these guys, now that they are in the coop, haven't roosted on any thing. they just make the same "chicken ball" in the corner of the coop on the floor. i did notice, they make their ball in the same corner of the coop as they do in their run, its always the front left corner. (which in relation to the coop, that spot in the run is 12 feet away)

anyone have any thoughts on both parts? im thinking tonight im going to try throwing a flashlight in the coop before dusk so when it starts to get dark theyll sit a glow from their door and maybe try to go in?

they do lay their eggs in the coop (about half in their nesting boxes and half just on the floor in the corner.. when they dont lay them randomly in the middle of the ground in the run) and ive seen them go in and out, so i know they all know how.

but getting them to roost is going to be another issue entirely. im going to try making a new roost with two staggered height poles for them maybe that might help.

 

[Scott16475]

Sorry, ngrybrd, but I don't have the answer but I wish I did. Tonight will be our chicks fourth night in their new coop and they, like yours, will get into a ball in the far corner of their run, and try sleep there. I have to grab each one, put her into the coop, and have my daughter close the door to the coop to keep the hen from coming back out. We do this for each hen (4). It wouldn't be so bad but they pick the furthest corner under the coop making it difficult to grab them. It also doesn't help that I'm 6'5" trying to squeeze in under their coop. I'm hoping my chicks figure it out before yours because I can't do this for 5 months.

Hopefully someone with information will respond. Good luck!

 

[vehve]

I'd try the light in there and see how it works. Also, 1½" sounds a bit thin, you could try a bit wider roosts.

 

[ngrybrd]

ya, fortunately for us they picked the far corner in the run from the coop, instead of a corner under the coop, sqeezing into 2 feet of space, thats got mud and chicken poop all over it wouldnt be fun. i got my chickens into their coop on april 5th. so we've done it almost two months, short of the two weeks they stayed inside the coop. luckily we dont have to shut the door for each chicken though, they get the hint and stay inside once they are there. just two weeks ago is when they finally started walking up the ramp, we were just putting them into the door for the sake of ease, but started putting them on the ramp and scooting them up to try and train them, and that has seemed to work, but they just need to learn to do it on their own. everyone ive talked to said their chickens always put themselves to bed in the coop with no problems. ours must just be "special" i guess theres a reason they are call bird brains.. hehe if yours do it sooner, please let me know how you got it to work.

 

[ngrybrd]

Well the light in the coop didn't work. They were outside in their usual chicken ball, soaking wet in the pouring rain... anyone have any other ideas? 6 isn't bad but once I have 14 or so out there that'll be a pain in the but..