Chickens--how to get them to go IN their coop at night

[Ottakee]

We lost one of our chickens last night. Dh and I heard something about 4:30am.

 

Problem is that we have to go to bed by 8:30 or 9 as we get up super early. The chickens do not want to go back in their coop by that time so they end up outside all night and obviously something figured that out last night..........and now I am afraid that whatever it was will return. I couldn't see any tracks so I don't know if it was a coon or coyote or ???

 

Any ideas on how to get them into the coop earlier? There are now 11 of them.

[Familia]

Dd says that she heard of a family that puts a big bowl of oatmeal in the coop to entice them to go to the coop early.

Our chickens usually go in at dusk naturally -- a few younger ones don't always follow the program and will roost in nearby trees. We find that if we give them scratch near the coop before dusk, then they are all around when dusk hits and go in.

We've joked about a solar door that closes when it is dark, and whoever is out -- too bad!

HTH

[Firefly]

Ours also go in naturally at dusk. But if I need to get them in the coop earlier I just bring up some treats. We have a green enamelware bucket that they've learned contains the good stuff LOL. Black oil sunflower seed and cracked corn are a staple-- we keep them in bins by the coop for just that reason-- or any food scraps we have will usually get them in there as well. I just toss a couple of handfuls in the coop and in they go.

 

Be warned that usually once a predator has learned there's a free lunch in a certain spot, they will return for more. For that reason, when we've lost birds, we keep them cooped up for a while (a couple of weeks at least) before we start letting them free range again.

[fairfarmhand]

are you saying that it doesn't get dark before you go to bed?

[Ottakee]

No, it isn't dark here when we go to bed now. We have to be UP at 4;30 am so we try to be in the house and done with chores by 8:30 at the latest. Soon it will be light until 10pm or later. In the winter when it is dark at 5pm this was easier.

[my2boysteacher]

Food works here, too. They will come running for oatmeal or any table scraps left from supper.

[aug17girl]

About 45 minutes before he wanted to shut them up for the night, my farmer grandfather would call the chickens and give them fresh feed and scraps in the chicken yard. Then at chicken bedtime he would call them to bed. Shut the ones in yard up in the coop. Then he would herd the stragglers, shooing any in the trees out with a broom then into the chicken yard. He had kind of a chicken sized little door in the main door that he would use to put the stragglers into the coop. He had way more than 11.

 

He called his hens ladies. Gosh I miss him.

[cajunrose]

Give them a treat around the time you want them to be in at night..something special. Mealworms, boiled eggs (They LOVE this), Sunflower seeds, etc. The only time they get that treat is then. Feed it to them in the coop or close to it. They will eventually do it naturally. I have a solar door that closes at dusk. Mine all go in naturally before that door closes. I have a new batch of babies and they all do it to (much to my surprise).

 

Good luck!

[Liz CA]

In all my years with chickens, I never had a problem with them not going into their coop. Do yours roost in trees outside the coop? Perhaps providing a pole to roost inside the coop and several cozy boxes will encourage them, however, it is unlikely they will go in before it gets dark. Ours never did but then we did not turn in that early either.

Is your coop covered on top so nothing can fly in? Is it going into the ground deeply, so nothing can dig under the fence?

[lailasmum]

We use treats to get them from the garden to their fenced run. In the summer I don't shut them up and they just go up into their house when it's dusk which can be pretty late here in the summer.

[Ottakee]

They will redily go in the coop, just not before MY early bedtime. When it was dark earlier they would all be in the coop when I did chores and then I would shut the door. Now that I am in the house about 1 hour before it gets dark they are running all over our 5 acres and not thinking of bed yet.

 

The small run attached to the coop is predator proof. Whatever got this one chicken got her in the horse paddock as that is where I found the feathers. The chickens love to scratch in there for tasty bits.

[Lizzie in Ma]

I trained them to come when I call using treats, they are usually heading toward to coop around dusk so it generally works for me to call them and throw treats in the coop which they happily go after.