they rush to out but not in!!!

[fowler_chick]

I let my 19 chicks out around 7 a.m, it's always a rolling ball off feathers down the ramp, they spend all day eating, drinking and sleeping, but when at night and it's time to get them in for the night it's world war 3!!! no one want's to go in..... yes they do tend to wander back in to the coop every once in a while in th day but at night it's a difrent story.....i have tried bringing them in around 8 p.m (still light out) at sun set an hour later, and at around 11 p.m to see if any trick would work......it doesn't....just wondering what you do to get your flock in the coop at night?

 

[TexasVet]

First, I don't let them out until a few hours before nightfall. When it starts getting dark, they all head back inside.

Second, I've trained them to come to me by whistling and tossing food scraps when I get to the back gate. If I don't have any table scraps, I use dog food... the kind that looks like hamburger meat. I hold it up where they can see it, then toss it inside the chicken run. Everybody comes running, and then it's like sharks in a feeding frenzy!

Kathy, Bellville TX
www.CountryChickens.com

 

[Lynn WA]

How old are your chicks? Have they spent enough time in the coop to know that's where they're safe and where they should roost? I didn't let my first hatch out until they were 12 weeks old. Then when I let them out, they came in on their own at dusk to roost. My new birds just follow the older ones, so everyone is in by dark.

 

[morninggloryhatchery]

My chicks LOVE lettuce! Maybe if you find out what their favorite food or vegtable is you can lure them in with it. When i go to get mine in at nite i will tear up some lettuce and spread it on the inside of the hut and its like the Kentucky Derby! They all want the biggest peice!lol


Joy

 

[Over Easy in Adna]

If it is after dark, all I have to do is shut the door.

Every now and then I lock them up early and I have a perfect system. I walk into the coop and say "get in here!". That works most of the time, but every now and then I have to tell Freezer, my NN Roo, to go and get the straglers. He heads out and herds the last few into the coop.

 

[jafo]

They're like our Orps,,,,they are'nt chickens, they're night owls. Sometimes they go in by them selves, sometimes i gotta "coax" 'em.

 

[Reinbeau]

I've never had to shoo anyone inside. You need to keep them in the coop for two weeks without letting them outside at all, they'll get the idea that the coop is 'home' and they should go in from then on at sunset with no problems.

 

[briana1975]

Did you keep them in the coop for a week or two when they first went outside? Mine went from the brooder to the coop for 2 weeks then they got to go outside. They go in no problems.

 

[cmom]

I agree with the other posts. My hens have always gone to roost before dark. My pullets do now but when they were younger I had to round most of them up in the evenings. Some went into the coop but I had some holdouts. I started giving them scratch/grain/seeds in the coop every evening to get them in. It worked. I tried some other treats such as bread but they would grab up the bread and run back out. They couldn't do that with the scratch grains. Also I make a noise or say "come come chicky chicky". They get where they recognise the noise with the treats.

 

[hac1224]

I like my approach better

The last 3 nights I've let them all the way out of the run (which is too short for me to easily get into), then chased them in circles until I caught them all one by one. I've gotten better at it and can get them in in only about 5 minutes now.

So, should I go back to square 1 and keep them in the coop for the next week instead of letting them in the run? They're only 4 weeks old today.