help with night time routine needed

[beejud]

Hope someone can offer me some advice please. I am not new to keeping chickens but my previous chickens arrived knowing that they had to go into the henhouse at dusk to roost.
I have eight new chickens that are point of lay, were kept in a poorly lit barn with loads of others. They arrived two days ago and are a bit shell shocked at the moment at the bright light, rain showers, green grass and clearly have no concept of roosting in their comfy henhouse at night.
I have an all enclosed large run for them with the henhouse inside the run. We have foxes about as I know already to my cost so I am paranoid now about making sure everything is as foxproof as possible and they are going in their house at night whether they want to or not. Only problem is that because they don't really know what to do yet, for the last two nights I and my sons have had to catch them and put them into the house at dusk. They are naturally still very nervous and are devils to catch. I am worried they are going to end up completely traumatised by the whole catching process and are not really learning what to do when they are put in the back door. I absolutely cannot leave them out overnight. My dog is chasing the fox away regularly but is there a better way I could be doing this that will be a calmer process for all concerned. Any suggestions please?

 

[Chuck]

It's a bit of a culture shock for them obviously but they will adapt and hopefully, quickly. Rather than pick them up, I'd get some boards or wire around the pop hole and drive them slowly in without causing them too much stress. This way they should learn to walk into the coop. Or you can use boards to create a holding area next to the pop hole and get them in with some mixed corn, then drive them in.

 

[karminski]

i dont leave mine to go to roost on thier own so i end up having to chase birds around every night as i like to know mine are well tucked up before its dark so i just chuck in a small handfull of corn and it works with most birds but i have some that are still naughty , but with yours it may take anything up to a few weeks to get used to the surroundings etc but once they feel safe and happy they should go to bed on thier own .

 

[foxy]

If you place a torch inside the house they will gravitate towards the light. Try and leave them to it for as long as possible at dusk, as naturally chickens will look for somewhere to roost.
Herding as chuck suggests is a good idea, they get into the habit of making their own way as apposed to being caught and lifted in.

 

[Bertie & The Chooks]

If you place a torch inside the house they will gravitate towards the light. Try and leave them to it for as long as possible at dusk, as naturally chickens will look for somewhere to roost.
Herding as chuck suggests is a good idea, they get into the habit of making their own way as apposed to being caught and lifted in.

Herding or light is usually how we do it! but we wait til it gets pretty dark as they usually will roost and we can collect them by hand. But I prefer the herding method as it encourages a habit with positive reinforcement.

 

[Marigold]

I agree with the previous posts. I think the important thing in training them is to get them to take those first steps into the scary darkness of the coop by themselves, rather than lifting them in, especially if you have had to chase them and thus they are stressed before they try. I wonder if it's possible to temporarily enclose part of their nice big run round the coop, so they start off nearer to where you want them to regard as home? I've found that you can support chicken netting by threading bamboo canes through from top to bottom and then just put this round the coop area, with a sort of funnel towards the pophole entrance? I've had this problem with young pullets who were reluctant to go into the coop because the older birds were in there first and had been giving them a bit of a hard time during the day, so they very sensibly didn't want to risk it! At least you won't have that problem. I used another piece of flexible netting to surround them and herd them in, without having to touch or chase them, and this helped too.
Also, if you leave it until it's really getting dark it will be easier, as others have said, because the need to roost in safety will be uppermost in their little minds. They can be like children about being put to bed when they consider it too early! One night you'll be a bit late going doewn and will find they're all tucked up in bed, and you'll know your troubles are over. Well done for giving them such greatly improved conditions, I hope they come to appreciate it and reward you in the usual way!

 

[podstable]

My best chase in aid is a long drain rod! Works well! Ros

 

[tygrysek75]

Ha,I 'm using bamboo stick.When they see I carry one they usually get the hint and go by themselfs.I took few days to train them but this mean I can let them out even for half an hour in the morning and get them back to their run with no problems(1 min. is usually plenty to get them in)I usually make some noise with the bamboo like bang few times on something wooden-so they know is time to go

 

[Bertie & The Chooks]

we use old broom sticks!

 

[beejud]

Thanks so much for all the good ideas. I actually left it a bit later tonight and three did go in themselves. Hooray! The rest are clearly going to need a little more persuasion. It was much easier as they were trying to roost under the henhouse which is raised on legs but meant a hands and knees crawl for me. They were also much quieter so some progress I think. Like the idea of making a herding / temp fence around the pop hole and the torch idea I will try tomorrow night too.
Glad I asked. I knew you would come up with something. This is a great forum and although this is the first time I have posted for advice I have learned loads from reading all the threads.
Much appreciated

 

[victorias poultry]

Hope all the girls have now learned to go into the hen house at night, can take a few days for the girls to get used to their new surroundings.

 

[Marigold]

What do they do when they are in the house at night? It occurred to me that if they'd always been kept in a barn in less than ideal conditions they might not have ever encountered perches before. Do they sit on the floor, or perch properly?

 

[beejud]

What do they do when they are in the house at night? It occurred to me that if they'd always been kept in a barn in less than ideal conditions they might not have ever encountered perches before. Do they sit on the floor, or perch properly?

Success! Tonight, before they were ready to go in I blocked up the area under the henhouse and put a wee lantern( battery one) inside. Went up an hour later and they were all in. Had to do several head counts to be sure but yes, everybody was in.

Marigold- about three have worked out how to perch properly. The rest are working on a variation of floor and jamming themselves altogether in one of the nest boxes. I'll give them a couple of nights to get the hang of coming in at night and then I can lift them up onto the perches. It's so rewarding to see them becoming a bit bolder now. Several of them are taking a little corn from my hands now and they are less nervous. Progress I think. Its lovely when your chickens rush up to see you, even if it is cupboard love.