They won't go in the coop at night-help!

[Luvducks]

I locked my ducks in a dog box for two nights (and even let them out in the day) and now if it is windy they go inside. Of course they do not care about rain but they will go in at night and if something scares them.

Good Luck.

 

[kingmt]

Mine are free to roam the yard when they are out of the coop. When I got them I shout them in the coop for two days & then turned them out. When I first turned them out they went in & out but roosted in the trees at night. I went & got them at night & put them in at night until I started throwing in scratch at night. They started running to the house every time I went within 50' of it. They got tired of the scratch but got used to going in at night. I it is time to go to roost I go to the door & they go in other times if it is early I kind of heard them to the coop or pick one up & put him in & the rest will fallow.

My ducks on the other hand, when I turned them out they flew away. They come back for about a hour each day to visit.

I know this isn' advice but it might help you hang in there untill you find what works.

 

[fmk]

Hi - I'm relatively new to this game also . I got 4 POL pullets recently - they are a hybrid breed. I had the same problem and a light in the coop solved it. Sunset is about 20.30 here in Ireland now - so my light goes on at about 20.15 for an hour. The chickens are normally in and settled shortly after the light goes off at 21.15. I'm using a standard white light bulb - anyone know if a red one would be better?

 

[journey11]

Shutting them in for a couple days worked for me too. If you can, give them a little night light in there too, at least 'til they get acclimated.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
If you are only using the light for an hour a day I don't think it would make a difference red or white. If for some reason you were using a light all night then red would be preferable to allow them to establish a normal sleep pattern. I know I couldn't sleep well if I had a white light glaring all night.
Really, if you don't use a light at all (and I don't) your chickens will train themselves to get inside, grab a bite to eat and get on the roost before it gets too dark to see.
My chickens are all on the roosts while there is still enough light to see. The only exception is my Lil' Bit. She's half blind and has problems seeing even in dim light. She waits for me to put her on the roost at night.

 

[Chicken Fruit]

Yaeh you gotta get a door on and leave them in for a couple days and nights. So they know thats where they live.

 

[leearealake]

my babies are allways raised inside and after a few day to a week of locking them up at night they go in themself

 

[MD Chicken chic]

Thank you for all of the advice! I have no electricity out there though, so I can't put a light out there. Hubby doesn't want to run an extension cord and doesn't want to put any lights out there because of possibility of fire. It's really a very small coop, and there's no place to hang a light safely. Gonna lock them in for a couple of days and nights starting tonight and I'll let you know what happens after that. I really want to build a new coop, one that has a people door so I can easily clean it out and collect eggs and a run that is taller so that I can easily get in there if I need to. I wish I could find one to buy, but they are ridiculously expensive or any that are posted on Craigslist and places like are gone in seconds because everyone's doing the backyard chicken thing and everyone needs a coop. It also needs to look "nice" because we have neighbors around us.

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

So - What is the update?

 

[cmom]

I have a small red light in my coop. At first my birds didn't want to go in at night so I rounded them up and put them in the coop for a few days. I made sure they had plenty of feed and water. Every evening I would take some treats out to the coop and give the birds their treats. After a few days I let them out in the run. Now instead of not wanting to go into the coop at night they wanted to stay in the coop during the day so then I started giving them some treats in the run in the mornings and in the coop in the evenings. Now they go in and out with no problems. I slowed down on the treats and now only give them some during the day in the yard.

The best way to a chickens heart is through it's stomach.