Young'ns not going into coop

[HoneyBug Homestead]

I am a new proud chicken mama in the frozen north - winter temps drop to a low of around -40F and average around -20 or so. I have 15 chicks currently, waiting to thin out once I find who is a hen vs roo. I have 5 ten weekers and 10 7 weekers.

We have "the compound" for our chickens and have LOTS of predators so are not free ranging. There are 2 heavily insulated coops connected to a 9x18' run. Temperatures are dropping here into the 30s at night already and we will not be heating our coops.

I cannot, for the life of me, get the chicks to go into the coops of their own volition. Rather than roost at any point in the nice, insulated coops they just chicken pile against the side of the run (chain link covered in 1/4" hardware cloth, so they're safe).

Daylight here is dwindling as well, but it still isn't dark before I go to bed and they're fast enough now that I can't catch them all by myself and my husband works a shift opposite of mine. They are currently locked into the coops and have been for several days now but what if they don't start roosting in there by the time I let them back out?

The negative temps without the coop insulation in winter...I don't want the poor things to freeze to death if they aren't willing to go back inside! Will they eventually figure it out on their own once it gets really cold if their time shut in doesn't do the trick? And yes, there are lights inside so that the coops aren't dark and gloomy inside.

 

[Lillith37]

I sure hope they figure it out! Could you lure them in with some treats and shut them in before you go to bed? I think with a routine they will get the hang of it. Sometimes it just takes a bit to click. Do the older birds roost in the same coop?

 

[HoneyBug Homestead]

I sure hope they figure it out! Could you lure them in with some treats and shut them in before you go to bed? I think with a routine they will get the hang of it. Sometimes it just takes a bit to click. Do the older birds roost in the same coop?

The older chicks are happy with the younger ones and they're too smart to go in being lured by treats. I've tried.

For their first several days outside I was catching them with a helper and LOTS of running - and then letting them out in the run during the day and they didn't get the picture. So once my husband and I went back to work, I locked 'em in and am hoping for the best LOL

I am just really hoping that maybe once it starts getting COLD they'll figure it out if this current lockdown doesn't work. Oof.

 

[Lillith37]

By the time it gets really/dangerously cold, will the sunset coincide more closely with your bedtime? Because if so, you can more easily catch them once they’ve piled up for the night and put them in the coop. They will get the picture eventually.

 

[HoneyBug Homestead]

By the time it gets really/dangerously cold, will the sunset coincide more closely with your bedtime? Because if so, you can more easily catch them once they’ve piled up for the night and put them in the coop. They will get the picture eventually.

Yes? We're currently losing almost 7 minutes of daylight every day and that will increase as we get more into the cool weather, to the point where it will be dark before I even get to leave work at 5pm. By the time dark coincides with bedtime, it should be well below freezing but not to the point that it could be dangerous for them to not sleep in the insulated space.

Once we get really into winter, temperatures won't vary at all between day and night and we'll only have a few precious hours of light each day which is another reason that the coop will be important - the lights.

Looks like I might end up chasing freaking chickens longer than I had anticipated if they don't get the ding dang hint!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Any photos of the coops? Is the pop door elevated or at ground level? Previously to locking them in, had you seen evidence of the birds going in and out of there on their own during the day?

You said they're currently locked in, how many days have they been on lock down?

 

[First time Chick mom]

Your chicks are still rather young. My chicks are not far ahead (21 and 16 weeks). Yes, I am very familiar with chicken racing. LOL When I first put my chicks into the coop around 8 weeks old, I had to chase them around the run and corner them to get them in the coop. Someone on here told me to put them in the coop for 2-3 days straight with food and water. I opened the windows for plenty of sun light. They need to know the coop is their "safe place". I let them out and for three days chickens racing was on, but the fourth day to my surprise at sunset they marched in. My four younger ones just followed the older ones once we put them in the coop after we intergraded them. The funniest part is my chickens climb on me all the time, except when I had to put them in the coop. Little stinkers.

 

[HoneyBug Homestead]

Any photos of the coops? Is the pop door elevated or at ground level? Previously to locking them in, had you seen evidence of the birds going in and out of there on their own during the day?

You said they're currently locked in, how many days have they been on lock down?

 

[HoneyBug Homestead]

They have completed 3 days of lockdown, plus about 3 hours. These are the coops - only up on cinder blocks so not high. The dark blue coop DOES have a ramp that isn't pictured, with rungs about every 6 inches.

Prior to lockdown, they would venture up the ramp but not actually enter the coop. No issues with them coming out in a semi orderly fashion once I removed the chicken door barricade.

 

[Happy hen lover]

I am a new proud chicken mama in the frozen north - winter temps drop to a low of around -40F and average around -20 or so. I have 15 chicks currently, waiting to thin out once I find who is a hen vs roo. I have 5 ten weekers and 10 7 weekers.

We have "the compound" for our chickens and have LOTS of predators so are not free ranging. There are 2 heavily insulated coops connected to a 9x18' run. Temperatures are dropping here into the 30s at night already and we will not be heating our coops.

I cannot, for the life of me, get the chicks to go into the coops of their own volition. Rather than roost at any point in the nice, insulated coops they just chicken pile against the side of the run (chain link covered in 1/4" hardware cloth, so they're safe).

Daylight here is dwindling as well, but it still isn't dark before I go to bed and they're fast enough now that I can't catch them all by myself and my husband works a shift opposite of mine. They are currently locked into the coops and have been for several days now but what if they don't start roosting in there by the time I let them back out?

The negative temps without the coop insulation in winter...I don't want the poor things to freeze to death if they aren't willing to go back inside! Will they eventually figure it out on their own once it gets really cold if their time shut in doesn't do the trick? And yes, there are lights inside so that the coops aren't dark and gloomy inside.

All my young hens get closed in coop for a week so they imprint the coop as the safe place. You can also put in a night light per SE to light up the coop at dark. They can't see at dark so coop is scary till they get the hang of it. Some folks use solar lights for that. You can also intice them with treat too. Good luck