What just happened

[ntjpm]

I am so puzzled right now, First some background, I have 19, 6 week old chicks. They were in a brooder for 2 weeks then moved out to the coop for the next 3 weeks with the door to the run closed the whole time. This past week I opened the door to the run and have started to get them used to having their food and water outside in the run. My run and coop are Fort Knox and so for the last 4 nights I have left the pop door open all night so when they get up in the morning they can eat and drink and I can be lazy and not get up at the crack of dawn.

So on to the puzzle, we have them on a webcam so we can watch them and tonight when I checked (after dark) there they were all outside huddle together in the run. I go outside to get them inside and there are 3 of them just outside the coop on the landing and the rest are in the huddle about 4' out in the run, and 1 was all by itself sleeping in the middle of the run.

I start scooping them up and setting them on the landing so they will go inside and I ended up with a pile of chicks on the landing. So at this point I have 2 still outside and this pile right on the outside of the door. I start to wonder if there is something wrong in the coop. So I go out and check and NOTHING. Their heat lamp is on (I started turning it off during the day and back on at night and I had turned it back on about an hour before dusk) and the coop is just empty nothing scary in there at all.

So back out to the run I go and grab the last two chicks, these ones I walk all the way around to the people door and set them in the middle of the coop. I then go back outside to try and shoo the rest inside. FINALLY they all start to go in.

So what happened? They have gone in every single night since I started leaving the door open. There was light in the coop lighting up the ramp and the doorway in. I am leaning toward it just getting to dark and they couldn't see anymore so they just all went to sleep where they were, but honestly it seems weird to me. Basically nothing was new today, everything is the same as it has been except them.


I wanted to add that they go in and out all day long, every one of them uses the ramp and they come and go as they please.

Here is the link to the webcam and you can see the ramp and the landing for yourself. http://wingedwonder.click2stream.com/


Any thoughts??? And thank you for them
Tracy in WA

 

[Celizwalsh]

I had a similar experience with my chicks when I gave them treats later in the day. They stayed out longer then normal to snack and then just huddled down in the run when they realized they couldn't find their way into the coop after dark. They also did the same thing when I took the heat lamp out. I think they just get used to their surroundings and routine and then get kind of flustered by even the smallest changes.

 

[iwiw60]

You should probably put water and feed in the coop, too. With 19 birds especially. What is the size of your coop? It's hard to tell from the angle at your webcam.

 

[ntjpm]

Coop is 4"x 8' and 11 of those chickens are leaving in the next month or so. I only want 8, but to get them had to order 15 and then well chicken math prevailed sigh.... They have plenty of room and some of them have even been flying up to the roosts, which is so cool to see.

Tracy in WA