The great chicken chase!!!

[mdulik]

I have all my chickens out in the coup and run now and everynight I have to try and round them up to get them to go into the coup. It turns out to be about a 45min chicken chase every night. Sometimes by the time I get down to the last few they will figure out that they are alone and will go up the ramp and into the coup on their own. Is there a point in time when they will just go into the coup at night by themselves or am I going to give my already aging heart a work out on a daily basis. I figured at first it was because they were new to the coup, but when I start putting them in at night they dont want to stay in there, I have to close the little chicken door and go catch another to put him/her in the coup. Anyone with good sound advise on this would be very, very, very appriciated.

 

[mdbokc]

Are you waiting until almost really dark to do this? My chickens absolutely do not want to be put into the coop before it is almost too dark for them to see. Then when they can see the light of the coop, they go to the light and go into the coop.

Also, you can train them to know when to go to the coop. I use a 10' 1" diameter white PVC pipe (easy for them to see) and slowly herd them to the coop door while simultaneously making a "tsk tsk" type sound and telling them, "chickens in." Now they know when that scenario occurs, they are expected to act accordingly and they do, whether day or night. They are trainable.

 

[hearthnsoul]

Two things, my chickens come running when they think food is involved,..second my rooster seems to round the strays that don't seem ready for bed. After dinner time every night I know all the hens will be in the coop. I am waiting to see if they still are on winter schedule and it will change up as they realize it stays lighter into the later hours,..or better yet when Galdys the rooster figures that out. I would try shaking a feed can so they associate it with food and when its time for bed,..put a bit in, shake and they will follow,..give them each a few pecks of feed when they come in. Pavlov knew his stuff.

 

[gryeyes]

I recommend you lock them IN the coop for a week or two. That way they KNOW that's "where they live." (It's what I did.)

The first couple nights after I let them out, I did have to shoo a couple of the chickens towards the coop, but they went in on their own. After that, they always go in around dusk.

 

[mdulik]

I think that my problem may be that im putting in too early. I think all of you are saying you wait until almost dark. I have been putting them in the coup around 7:30pm because thats the schedule my wife and I are on. I do like the idea of locking them in to let them know thats their home. Thank you for that.

 

[mdbokc]

The sun is below the horizon before mine even think about going in. Then they are ready to go in about 30 minutes later.

 

[megcpat]

Quote:
That's absolutely what we do and it works great. Leave them in the coop for a while (about a week) and then they are happy to put themselves in at night. Otherwise, it is just as you say - an insane chicken chase every night for a long time.....

 

[luckyramu]

Your chickens are vagrants- arrest them!

A little note here. I don't know what age your chicks are. This video is of my chicks right at dusk and it was their first night to go into the coop. They were crying for me to lug them into the house via a tupperware container. They cried, they whined, but they eventually all made the treck into the coop as it got darker. Inside, awaiting them was a nice blue heat lamp.

I have had to round them up many times so I feel your pain. But the endeavor is gratifying and enjoyable, so I actually look forward to that time of day. They are so much like children, or children are so much like chickens..- snaps, i'm so confused.

 

[SarahIrl]

They will go in when they are ready!! My hybrids had been kept in an all-purpose type pen before I got them at 20 weeks, and first day in the coop, they settled up into the house section at dusk. Just before you'd actually need a flashlamp. My problem is they love to sleep in the nesting boxes instead of the roost bars. One likes to lay really early, before I get up, so I can't block them off either. They are getting a brand new coop soon, anyway, with room for 12, which will house them and the impending new arrivals when they are big enough.

So, my suggestion is hat they know full well where to sleep, and when they are in themselves, lock them in. Expect to usher them in once or twice in the dark, but after they realise they can go in on their own you'll be laughing.