Shut In Time?

[waywind]

Hi all,

First time BYCer, got the beginner jitters.

So it's coming up to two weeks and I'm still struggling to get my two girls to go back into the coop on their own and to roost.

I've searched the super helpful advice here; I've put on a light for the past few nights, changed the ramp to make it more accessible, tried put some treats at the coop door. I feel like I'm getting more interest, I see the lead girl craning her neck up and bobbing down as if she's going to fly up but then nothing. Then they eventually plonk down in the run corner.

I pick them up and put them on the end of the ramp and they walk right in. But then they won't roost. So I have to pick them up again and put them on the roost.

So I've gone through the usual
New coop, no signs of mites
Interior is 1.2 x 0.9
I've got windows on most walls, so I don't think ventilation is the issue.

So it is just time for me to shut them in the coop for a few days? It's not the biggest coop, as I thought they'd be in the run mostly; will this be ok? One of them has started to lay randomly in the middle of the run too, so I'm thinking it might encourage them to start using the nesting boxes.

Thanks for your time,
Waywind.

 

[LizzzyJo]

Weather permitting, I would lock them up for a few days. The light may also be giving them a false sense of security outside of the henhouse.

 

[aart]

Put the light farther away from the pop door,
like the wall opposite the pop door,
so it lights up the coop interior and not just the entrance.

 

[so lucky]

This may be a shot in the dark, so to speak, but from your pics it looks like the light may be shining down on the door, but not on the roost itself. It could be acting like stage lights, where you are lit up on the stage, but you can't see the audience. You might want to put your head where the chicken's head would be, and look into the coop. If the light shining in your eyes prevents you from being able to see the roost, you might want to move the light so that it shines on the roost. From above, preferably. Good luck. Sometimes chickens are hard to figure out.

 

[waywind]

Thanks for the replies

I think that night I was try to get them to go on the ramp and gave them some light. I have tried just putting ambient light inside the coop, where I can see their interest looking upwards but never flying up to the door.

I've shut them in today as it's suppose to rain later on. They gave me some unimpressed looks when I didn't let them out haha. Tough love.

Fingers crossed
Waywind

 

[aart]

I've shut them in today as it's suppose to rain later on. They gave me some unimpressed looks when I didn't let them out haha. Tough love.

Best of cLuck!
Tight space and lack of ventilation could be part of the problem.

 

[waywind]

So I shut them in for half the day as it ended up being a warm day. Came home to find them in the coop! Hurray!

Not roosting but I'll take the half victory for now. Thanks for the support.