Roosting in an old drip pan

[RaPa]

As i have previously mentioned, i am new to chicken keeping, and i am still learning some of their behaviors, but i am perplexed. My chickens went from a brooder, to a make shift coop, then when i moved to a new house, i built them a beautiful coop. But they refuse to go into it at night. I've always heard "chickens always come home to roost". They spend more time in their coop than in the yard but at night, but when its time for bed, they insist on perching inside an old drip pan i am currently use for recycling. I have to pick them, one by one, and take then to their coop. What gives? Will they ever just go into their coop on their own or have they been tainted by this ugly black rubber bowl?

 

[azygous]

It may be for the same reasons my chicks fell in love with this cat bed. They kept trying to squeeze themselves into it long past being able to comfortably fit. I had let them use it in the coop to transition them from their heating pad cave. I think they just enjoyed the closeness and the coziness of the confinement, sort of the same reasons cats and dogs like these beds.

Your homely drip pan is cozy and feels safe to your chicks. Let them enjoy it out in the run. That's what I ended up doing with my chicks' cat bed after I started teaching them to roost. It worked out pretty well for everyone.

 

[chickens really]

That was not even funny.....Anyways, do your birds have to walk up a ramp into the coop??? That could be your problem.?

 

[aart]

As i have previously mentioned, i am new to chicken keeping, and i am still learning some of their behaviors, but i am perplexed. My chickens went from a brooder, to a make shift coop, then when i moved to a new house, i built them a beautiful coop. But they refuse to go into it at night. I've always heard "chickens always come home to roost". They spend more time in their coop than in the yard but at night, but when its time for bed, they insist on perching inside an old drip pan i am currently use for recycling. I have to pick them, one by one, and take then to their coop. What gives? Will they ever just go into their coop on their own or have they been tainted by this ugly black rubber bowl?

How old are they and how long have they been in the newest coop?