Young birds, not entering /exiting the coop

[Murdy]

I've recently introduced 3 young orpingtons to my flock of 5 yearlings. I have to guess on this, but they are roughly 11 weeks old. I started off with food and water in the coop, but I don't want that. Since making that decision, every morning I have to manually remove them from the coop, and every night I have to place them back in.

There is a hole on the floor of the coop that leads down/out or up/in. At what point do they learn to follow the test of the girls? Is there anything I can do to teach them?

 

[Blue Raptor]

Do the other go in all by themselves or do you lure them in with treats? If they go in by themselves, give it some time, and the orps will go in to sleep (during this time you may have to shoo them in). The easier way is to lure them in with treats (scratch is easiest). then they will want to come and they will learn to come in sooner.

 

[yakitori]

I always put my chicks in manually for the first few days, then they kind of learn to go in themselves. Sometimes I have to wait a little later, until it’s practically dark...

if you dont have the food directly in the coop, I think they will have to come out in search of food and water, maybe the food is what’s keeping them in?