What is a good bedtime?

[Morgan7782]

I have two 7 week old chicks out in the coop/run right now. It's about 8:20pm here, and around 72-74 degrees. I am keeping the chicks outside until it gets to about 55/60 degrees, or too dark for me to gather them up to bring them inside. The temps here still get to around 46 at night for the lows, so I am waiting until Wednesday to put them out full time. My question:

What is a good time to lock them in the coop for 'bed'? It's just now starting to get dark outside. Thanks for any help

 

[debilorrah]

They will put themselves to bed. Sometimes right on time, sometimes a bit later when the night is cool and the bugs are abundant.

 

[Morgan7782]

LoL alright, so when they are staying in the coop is a good time for me to shut the door? I have a shut/locking door on the coop, and wasn't sure when a good time was to lock them up for night time.

 

[debilorrah]

Do you have a roo or a dominate hen? Once the leader herds them all in, he/she will be the last one in. Otherwise, you will hear a bunch of hollering from the roo/dominate hen to GET IN HERE! Then you can close them up.

 

[NoseyChickens]

I lock them up when the last one makes it's way inside. There is usually still a little light out so I can se them. But I always take a flash light and do a head count. The one time some one didnt do a head count when they locked up the birds I found my daughters favorite bird dead in the morning, killed by our former dog.

 

[Morgan7782]

I only have two pullets, and the BR is the leader of the two. I just went out to put them in the coop because it got dark real quickly, and I get worried when they blend into the darkness lol. They are throwing a fit right now, but after a few minutes they have calmed down.

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
HAHAHA!!! Ok note the time tonight, and tomorrow go out 15 minutes later. I assure you they will put themselves to bed when they are ready.

 

[Morgan7782]

I will do that

I have another question. How do I know when they can stay out all night? Tonight is warm, and calm, but I have NO clue what the temp will be at around 2 or 3am.

 

[debilorrah]

Once fully feathered they can do what they want, but chickens are birds of habit. They will go in the coop at darkness no matter what. I have a few rogue birds that like to test the limits, but when they see me with a flashlight, they run in the house.

 

[felidaet]

If you have trouble getting them into the coop at night, turn a light on in the coop about an hour before dark. This will lure them in. When they are all in, close the door. Then turn off the light. after about a week of this you should not need the light any longer. This is how I trained my birds last year. It worked great. I am not having a training issue with the new birds this year because I am leaving the light on all night for them. They range in age 5 - 8 weeks. They have only been had access to the run a couple of days now and many of them are still afraid to leave the coop. There were 13 out this evening, a significant improvement from the 5 or 6 yesterday. Hopefully the others will venture out in another day or two.

Note - the two flocks have separate coops and runs (for now).