Will chickens return to the coop at night?

[jay873]

I have a mixed flock of chickens I hatched some feral ones I caught and some I bought . My question is will the ones that use to sleep in trees and were never caged ever be able to free range and return to the pen at night? They have been caged for 8 months now and spring is pretty much here in nc and I want them to be free in the afternoons

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I think after 8 months they will know where home is.

Gary

 

[ChickNanny13]

Technically they should but best to wait to see what those with more experience in free ranging feral chickens say ...

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I have a mixed flock of chickens I hatched some feral ones I caught and some I bought . My question is will the ones that use to sleep in trees and were never caged ever be able to free range and return to the pen at night? They have been caged for 8 months now and spring is pretty much here in nc and I want them to be free in the afternoons

Excuse my ignorance but I always thought that free range chickens were never caged and that they always slept in the open air regardless of the weather.

However It is my experience that chicken don't like to form new habits, their old habits of never being caged and always sleeping in trees being hard to break. But a chicken who makes a habit of living in a cage and sleeping in a coop will in all likely hood continue to do so almost to the point of never changing their habits to a proper (what ever that means) free range lifestyle.

 

[K813ZRA]

Well, I had a similar situation but with a turkey. This turkey was one we picked up because it was unwanted but it had been totally free range for the first year of its life. It did not want to stick around so we built him a pen and kept him around all winter. Come spring we let him out and he has stuck around for nearly a year now. We built him a little lean to that he shelters in but it took awhile for him to do that. The point is that he does not try to wonder off too far but we do have four acres for him to play on for whatever that is worth.

Now, how that will translate with chickens I do not know. But I think there is room for hope at the very least. Those chickens know that there is shelter and food, I think they will return to the coop.

 

[jay873]

Excuse my ignorance but I always thought that free range chickens were never caged and that they always slept in the open air regardless of the weather.

However It is my experience that chicken don't like to form new habits, their old habits of never being caged and always sleeping in trees being hard to break. But a chicken who makes a habit of living in a cage and sleeping in a coop will in all likely hood continue to do so almost to the point of never changing their habits to a proper (what ever that means) free range lifestyle.

No they were feral chickens born in the wild and I caught a few hens and put them in my flock . They lay pretty good too .

 

[jay873]

Well, I had a similar situation but with a turkey. This turkey was one we picked up because it was unwanted but it had been totally free range for the first year of its life. It did not want to stick around so we built him a pen and kept him around all winter. Come spring we let him out and he has stuck around for nearly a year now. We built him a little lean to that he shelters in but it took awhile for him to do that. The point is that he does not try to wonder off too far but we do have four acres for him to play on for whatever that is worth.

Now, how that will translate with chickens I do not know. But I think there is room for hope at the very least. Those chickens know that there is shelter and food, I think they will return to the coop.

I think I'm going to try it out today only reason I haven't already is I'm scared a random dog or something will show up. I have a pitbull but she isn't an aggressive dog so she will probably try to play with the thing.

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

I've never owned a feral chicken, but I know chickens always go "home" at night where it's safe.. they may return to the trees. Also chickens are very observant so if possible some younger chickens may follow.

3 of my old hens sleep in the barn rafters 35' up. They flutter up the latter. My young birds 2 pullets and a cockerel followed after 2 months of watching so now 6 sleep in the rafters.

 

[ChickNanny13]

I've seen this one Roo at the boat ramp where the feral chicken flock get "plucked" now and then. It's really gotten "plucked" this past month, the Main Roo & his son is gone as are several hens & chicks. This one Roo caught my eye cause of his RED color, he must have gotten away many times cause when we first saw him, he had NO TAIL FEATHERS. It's been coming back, looks like he'll be the NEW Cock of the Walk.

 

[JedJackson]

I have a mixed flock of chickens I hatched some feral ones I caught and some I bought . My question is will the ones that use to sleep in trees and were never caged ever be able to free range and return to the pen at night? They have been caged for 8 months now and spring is pretty much here in nc and I want them to be free in the afternoons

You'll never know until you try. If you don't want them sleeping in trees try luring them into the coop with treats a bit before bedtime, and then lock them in.