They wont go in their home!

[bear3902]

I have a young flock of 14 chickens. I have had them in their coop for over a week to get them to know it is home. I recently let them out in their run for the fist time and the first night they went in their coop just like they were supposed to. the following nights they were huddled in a corner near the entrance. I also recently removed the heat light from the coop because i want them to get used to the difference between night and day. they are 7-8 weeks old and fully feathered soI am not worried about night time cold. I also built them a really nice coop that has not drafts so they will stay warm. I know they can get in and out of the coop because I have seen them do it. The other problem is about 1/2 of them went in when it started raining yesterday. The others, I had to put them in. They were clearly wet and cold so I dont know why they would choose to stay outside rather than inside. I take great pride in the cleanliness of my coop, so that should not be an issue. Any ideas or tricks to get them to go where they are supposed to? I want to let them free range in a month or so, but I also wan them to come back home.

 

[MareeZoCool]

Could you keep the light in the coop ~ on a timer, just to help those timid chickens go inside and choose their roosts for the night? Do you have a rooster? A good rooster will get everyone inside at bedtime.

 

[snowflake]

I only had that happen once, when we closed the summer tractors and finished the winter coop. but yours have only been in the one coop and are very young???may be you need to lock them in for another week or so, usually were one goes the rest will go, so it is strange, perhaps you have one that is dominating and will not let the others in??? rather young for that I would think????/

 

[WoodlandWoman]

If your coop doesn't have any windows in it, it may look darker inside than it does outside, at dusk. I've heard of that being an issue with some chickens.

Sometimes coops can be stuffy or hotter than the outside air. There can be issues with the roost material, size or placement. There can be something about the coop that they don't like as well as the outdoors. Other times, they just haven't gotten in the habit of roosting in a new coop, yet.

Is their food inside or outside? I keep mine inside and I notice they like to come in the coop at the end of the day and have some food before roosting. If it's outside, maybe try putting it inside the coop, to make the coop more appealing and lure them inside.

When I first have young chickens outside during bad weather, I always check on them. Sometimes, they just haven't gotten the hang of going in the coop for shelter during the day, yet.