Training chickens to go in at night...

[sssharon]

I know I'm late on seeing this post but still have to reply.I must be a really lucky person. I have never had trouble with the chickens going in at night,not any of them. I think with my chickens its the monkey see monkey do system. Any chickens that have been integrated just seem to get the idea right away when they see the other ones go in. Sometimes the new ones will want to hang out side a little bit longer and I just wait it out with them. They are always in there before dark, all of them and then I go in and lock them down. I think I'm just lucky.

 

[sjturner79]

These are all really great tips and I'm sure they'll work so I plan to try them when I get chickens soon, especially locking them in the coop and the mealworms, but I'm really conceened they wont want to go back to their coop as its kind of far away. Anyone have this issue?

Here's a brief yard tour video and some pictures in case you dont want to watch a video.

Our yard:

View of front yard/bowl from hill

Front yard

Hill where chickens would probably be

If you leave them in the new coop for 36 hours or more without letting them out they will use it as there base and free range out from there and head back in the evenings

 

[sjturner79]

One of my 18 MO pullets sleeps on the floor, the other sleeps with the big girls. Any ideas? I've watched her and she stares at the roost and cries...

Give her some steps or a ramp so she can get up there. She is obviously not comfortable trying to fly that high in one go. I had a disabled and blind chook for two years so my roosts have ramps leading up from floor level. The baby chicks even started using it from about 3 weeks.

 

[ShrekDawg]

If you leave them in the new coop for 36 hours or more without letting them out they will use it as there base and free range out from there and head back in the evenings

Thanks for the advice! That's good to know and I'll have to try that.

I guess it makes sense and really isn't that far since in the wild animals travel far too

 

[Dan-o]

This was very helpful. I am considering letting my leghorns and Easter Egger into my backyard during the day. I have a 6ft privacy fence around a large backyard. My other rookie question is, is there any possible way they could fly up and over it? Thanks!

 

[HJSmith]

We are having a similar problem. Our girls are almost 7 weeks old, and this week we started letting them in the run during the day. We have an automatic coop door that opens at dawn and closes at dusk, so far all week we have been having to go out there after the door closes and chase down all 10 of them and place them in the coop. The thing is, we brooded (is that even the right word?) them in the coop since we had it set up before we got them and it was just easier. So they have been in the coop for 6 weeks, but once the door opens in the morning they run out and dont go back in until we put them in. Its been close to 90 during the day and around 65-70 at night so we took the heat lamp out when we started letting them outside during the day. We got the automatic door so we did not have to go out and put them up every night, in case we were out of town for the weekend or whatever. So how do I get them to go in the coop before the door closes and they are stuck in the run all night?

 

[JJSS89]

With chickens in a new coop I do one of the following:

1) Lock them in it for about 6-7 days before free ranging at all. This is unless they have a small coop where this is prohibited by the amount of available space

2) Round them up at night after they are comatose and stick them inside the cage/coop/henhouse. They will eventually get the idea after maybe 10-14 days.

 

[BigShirleyRocks]

Congrats on getting your girls moved outside.... And as you know, the fun starts now! Lol
I've found that we wanted our girls in before they were ready and that lead to a lot of running around after them. We finally decided to wait until they were all in the coop and then would close the ramp. Any and every time we tried to put them to bed early they succeeded in making us look like a bunch of dummies! Lol they know when it's time and if you just sit back and watch them, they do go inside before it's totally dark. It's been 2 years with our flock and they have trained us!!! Hahaha
Enjoy these experiences with them.... Trust me.... There's plenty more coming your way!

 

[bruceha2000]

We are having a similar problem. Our girls are almost 7 weeks old, and this week we started letting them in the run during the day. We have an automatic coop door that opens at dawn and closes at dusk, so far all week we have been having to go out there after the door closes and chase down all 10 of them and place them in the coop. The thing is, we brooded (is that even the right word?) them in the coop since we had it set up before we got them and it was just easier. So they have been in the coop for 6 weeks, but once the door opens in the morning they run out and dont go back in until we put them in. Its been close to 90 during the day and around 65-70 at night so we took the heat lamp out when we started letting them outside during the day. We got the automatic door so we did not have to go out and put them up every night, in case we were out of town for the weekend or whatever. So how do I get them to go in the coop before the door closes and they are stuck in the run all night?

From MY experience:

Train them with "chicken candy". Mine love Black Oil Sunflower Seed (BOSS) and scratch. If we walk down toward the barn anywhere near roost time (and that can be 2 hours earlier) they come running even though all their food is stored in the barn. And they are underfoot squawking all the way to the 10 gallon trash can.EVERY NIGHT. If we need them in the barn earlier, it is usually just a matter of taking the plastic bowl with scratch out to where they can see us, shaking it and calling "Here chick, chick, chick" (which we did when we were introducing them to the "I have CANDY!" method).

And if you want them to go in the coop once they are addicted, just let them see you throwing scratch inside. See food, CHASE food.

I do NOT think it is necessary to keep them locked in the coop for a week so they know it is "home". Ever have a house cat that gets out? TOTALLY lost, it has only seen the world from one side of the wall. They do not recognize the house as home. Same with chickens, you could leave them locked in for a year and they still wouldn't recognize it from the outside, how could they?

Put their food, water and nest boxes (not needed until they are 4 months old at the earliest) and the chicks inside the first morning. They will need some time to acclimate to the new space, depending on how much bigger it is than the brooder, they will likely all huddle in one corner because all that space is SCARY. They will start exploring after a bit. Open the door to the run the next morning. If they are little, they likely won't go far at first anyway. A lot of people have to coax them OUT of the coop early on.

They want to roost off the ground (well MOST do) so have roosts at an appropriate height for the birds. Lower when they are little, or a couple of levels so they can "graduate" to the higher roost. Mine have one at 2' and 2 parallel (18" apart) at 4 feet. None ever use the 2' one except to stage a spot on the upper ones. I also have 2 plastic pool steps attached to an angled leg supporting the roosts - put there when the girls were little and 2' was a bit of a stretch. They never touch them now and I am too lazy to take them off

If it is 90 during the day it may well be much hotter in the coop. They may not want to be in there. Open all the ventilation you can.

I also suggest having LOTS of windows. Chickens like to be able to see. Would YOU want to be stuck in a windowless room? Having windows means they will be able to see inside the coop as the sun goes down. No windows = more light outside than in. Why go in?? Mine all hang closer to the barn as it gets closer to dusk and will be in the coop long before the photo cell controlled chicken door closes. They have a natural ability to figure these things out

 

[Buffheads]

We are having a similar problem. Our girls are almost 7 weeks old, and this week we started letting them in the run during the day. We have an automatic coop door that opens at dawn and closes at dusk, so far all week we have been having to go out there after the door closes and chase down all 10 of them and place them in the coop. The thing is, we brooded (is that even the right word?) them in the coop since we had it set up before we got them and it was just easier. So they have been in the coop for 6 weeks, but once the door opens in the morning they run out and dont go back in until we put them in. Its been close to 90 during the day and around 65-70 at night so we took the heat lamp out when we started letting them outside during the day. We got the automatic door so we did not have to go out and put them up every night, in case we were out of town for the weekend or whatever. So how do I get them to go in the coop before the door closes and they are stuck in the run all night?

When you gather your chicks after the door has closed, do they appear to be bedded down, or are they still roaming around? I also have an automatic door. The chicks have been in their coop/run for weeks already with successful bedding down at night in the right place. But now that they are allowed to free range all day, they are bedding down outside instead of going in the coop. If your issue is like mine, where they are trying to sleep in the wrong place, you might try getting them into the run (or making a temporary one if your coop has no run - maybe just use netting) before dawn, so their choices of where to sleep are limited. This is what I am going to try, as they don't get excited about treats, don't seem to be helped by having a light in the coop to lead them in, and a week of just putting them in the coop has not helped. I am hoping limiting their bed place options before dusk will help them get trained. If it works for me, I will let you know.