When Will My Chickens Start to go in to their Coop on their Own?

[andreasowell]

Hi Chicken lovers...my chickens are about 9 weeks and have been outside for almost a week. I have a coop with a fully enclosed, predator proof, enclosed run around it. I have been putting them in their coop every night to sleep (they are starting to use their perches which is great but they are also going over in to the nesting box (their is no divider so just one continuous box for 4 chickens) and poop, poop, poooooping! That doesn't concern me as much as when in the heck will they start to go up the ladder themselves to go to sleep? Or will I have to always put them in their coop and let them out in the morning til' they kick the bucket? Any advice on this would be great!
**Also, does anyone know if they have to have water and food (I'm assuming at least water) in their coop while they sleep? My coop is just enough room for 4 chickens....hmmmmm
Thanks! Andrea

 

[PunkinPeep]

Hi Chicken lovers...my chickens are about 9 weeks and have been outside for almost a week. I have a coop with a fully enclosed, predator proof, enclosed run around it. I have been putting them in their coop every night to sleep (they are starting to use their perches which is great but they are also going over in to the nesting box (their is no divider so just one continuous box for 4 chickens) and poop, poop, poooooping! That doesn't concern me as much as when in the heck will they start to go up the ladder themselves to go to sleep? Or will I have to always put them in their coop and let them out in the morning til' they kick the bucket? Any advice on this would be great!
**Also, does anyone know if they have to have water and food (I'm assuming at least water) in their coop while they sleep? My coop is just enough room for 4 chickens....hmmmmm
Thanks! Andrea

Hi there!

To train your chickens to go "home" to go to bed, you have to train them where "home" is. You can do that by keeping them inside the coop 24/7 for a week or two. Hopefully one week will do it, but sometimes they're a little stubborn. Once they identify the inside of the coop as home, they'll automatically go there when it starts getting dark outside. It seems rough to do that, but it's a lot better than putting them all up until they "kick the bucket."

Since they're young, i suggest you put up something to keep them out of those nest boxes until they're old enough to know what to do in there. You don't want them to get used to sleeping in them.

If you're letting them out early in the morning, there's really no need to have water or food in the coop. They don't eat and drink while they're sleeping.

Hope this helps!

 

[flyingdutchman]

I put my food and water inside the coop (hen house, whatever), so they have it at night and also keeps wild birds out of it (avian flu). Having your run covered appears to be a good idea since my Reds are approaching 18 weeks and when I went to close them up in the house last night one was sitting up on the roof. (HA!)