Silkies won't go inside their chicken house

[My peeps]

I had 6 Silkies that I raised from a week old. Since they have been out side they refuse to go in their chicken house and prefer to sleep in their pen on top of one another. They are 10 months old now. I have tried locking them in their house at night hoping they would get the idea....nothing. They stayed outside all winter long. When the weather would go below 30 I would put them in their house so they didn't freeze to death. My problem is that I really want my silkie hen to go broody. She started laying about a month ago and just lays any where in the yard. Since she won't go inside to the nesting boxes she doesn't have a particular place she will lay. I tried putting a rubbermaid dishpan type container filled with straw in the corner where they sleep but they just dumped it out and use it to stand on :/ Will she ever go broody if she doesn't have a place to nest?


One other question. We are down to 3 Silkies now because 4 of them started crowing. The one is definitely a rooster, the other one is definitely a hen but my 3rd one is still a mystery. She doesn't look like my rooster or hen, doesn't crow but hasn't laid an egg either. Plus I've never seen the rooster try to mount her. I'm starting to think she is asexual.

Any one else have this problem?

 

[ChickensRDinos]

What is your coop like? Is there a ramp to get in or is it on the ground?

If there is a ramp you will need to put a bit of effort into teaching them to use it. It is doable but silkies generally struggle with those sorts of things. If the door is off the ground more than a few inches and there is no ramp they may not be able to get in.

You could also consider adding a light in the early evening. Some silkies, especially the crested or bearded kinds really can not see well and if it is getting dark they may not be going in because they can not see where to go. If it is dark out and light inside they will be drawn in.

Where is their food? If you only feed them inside the coop then they will want to go in there because they have to. But, make sure they actually can physically get in there first.

If none of that helps make sure you don't have any mites or critters that might be bothering them and keeping them from wanting to be in there.

While some silkies roost, a lot do not and prefer to sleep in a pile but they should sleep in a pile inside not outside.

Good luck!

 

[My peeps]

Thanks for the tips. The chicken house is about 2 feet off the ground with a ramp going up to it. I've tried putting them on the ramp and helping them go up. Nothing worked. My husband is going to build a new coop so I will make sure their house is closer to the ground and will put a light inside. Do you think she will go broody outside or will I have to wait until the new coop is built? I'm so impatient for her to sit on some eggs!!!

 

[ChickensRDinos]

I trained my silkies to go up the ramp you see below in the back of the coop-- which was pretty steep. I would put them on the bottom on the ramp one at a time and then slowly put live mealworms up the ramp so they had to take a step to get them. All the way up. Again and again. It took a number of times a day for several days but after awhile they used it without issue. They never went up on their own before that.

Broody behavior is so hard to predict. I would imagine having a nesting place where she feels safe would help but it's hard to know what her instincts will be.