Training Your Chickens

[MissO]

We just got our first ever chickens yesterday - woo hoo!

They are 3 months old and seem like they are getting used to their new home in our backyard. We have a 2 story coop and a run....their food and water on on the first floor of the coop and they have been eating and drinking just fine. Last night, I had to put them up on their roosting bars ...they were just laying in the coop. This morning, they couldn't figure out how to get down from their bars and I had to pull them down and then they wouldn't walk down their little ladder downstairs to eat their breakfast...so I had to pull them down and put them in front of their food.

Will they eventually learn these things? Or is there something I need to do to teach them?

Thanks for any advice you can give!

 

[mamaKate]

Sounds like you're having a great time. They should figure out the new coop pretty soon.

 

[nwgirl]

Congrats on your new flock. Any pictures??? We love pictures

 

[SushiLove]

If you stick to a schedule, eventually they will figure out the routine.
Last time with my newbies, it took two weeks of waking them up and putting them to bed. During the day I'd leave treats on the ramp or ladder to encourage exploration.

Congrats on your new chickies!
Have fun!

 

[WisconsinGardenChick]

Hi, Miss O---

Congrats on your new babies, you will have a lot of fun with them.

I'm only slightly more experienced than you, but here's my opinion for what it's worth. You can train them to go up into their coop with treats, or by removing their feed an hour or two before dusk. Then put their feeder in their coop with a light, and they'll go up. I trained mine to do this in just two evenings. Third evening, they went in all by themselves without treats, light, or withholding feed. (You can read more details on my experience at my blog, if you're interested): http://backyardnestegg.blogspot.com/

Mine wouldn't come out in the morning at first, either. The first day I took them out. The second day, I just opened the door and sat outside with a cup of tea to wait them out. I felt sure the going out part they could figure out pretty quickly, and they did.

Mine also learned to use the roost on their own. My view based on my (limited) experience is to find ways to encourage their instincts to kick in. Not a fan of the locking them in their coop for a few days strategy (borders on cruelty, IMO). I also think putting them in and out of the coop and on and off the roost physically yourself is probably a slower way for them to learn. What they may learn is to wait for you to do it for them, at least temporarily. They appear to be creatures of habit.

Best of luck to you!

Wisconsin Garden Chick

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

I have a "townhouse" arrangement for my chickens as I have severe back problems so need them up at my level.

You can see pix of it on this post of my blog: http://polloplayer.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/coop-de-foudre/

I worried about training them to go up the ladder, too, but it was pretty easy - just used meal worms to entice them to go where I want them to be.

I have a ladder in their pen, too, and they know when they see me coming to fly up the ladder. They're almost 10 weeks old, and have been reliably doing this for about three weeks.

 

[annek]

Quote:
If you can post a picture of the roost. Is it too high for them to jump up to? Do they need a ladder to get up there? If not, it is just going to take a few days for them to get used to it. You can place them every night. What I am wondering about is why they don't get down by themselves.That sounds like they may have a problem with the location or access.

 

[MissO]

Thanks for all your advice and support! One figured out how to get up there last night on her own and all figured out how to get down to the food this morning - go figure!

Here are a few pictures ....

The Girls - affectionately named

Oprah Wingfrey
Cluck Norris
and Arnold Schwartzen-egger

yes, we realize two are boy names but oh well.

and the Coop

 

[Happy Chooks]

LOL, love the name Cluck Norris.

I'm pretty new at this too, but I somehow managed to "train" 2 of my chickens to fly up onto my arm when I come in to their run with scratch. They are so eager for it, they do it almost everyday now. My youngest son thinks it's hilarious.

 

[cybercat]

Nice coop and run. Do not worry they will figure it out. It take time to settle in older chicks.