# ok `who has the secret for getting chickens back in the coop ~..



## harvestgirl

seriously, it's a game of chicken round up each night & i am done. why won't they go back in?! i feed inside @ night.

any suggestions?

thanks!~


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## Bearfootfarm

How old are they?
How long have you had them?


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## deaconjim

Keep them in the coop for a couple of weeks. Once they learn that it's home, they will go back at night on their own.


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## shanzone2001

Ask JD, he has been chasing them around all afternoon!!!!:chicken:
I have used a big fishing net before and it works well...just trap them under it and them grab them out. Good luck!!!


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## Twoewes

Ours will not go in a dark coop nor will they go in before dark - put a light in the coop & wait till dark for them to all "come home to roost" - turn out the light & shut the door - quickly - the raccoons will be watching.


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## Ernie

Mine start milling back down to the coop about an hour before dark. A handful will stay out and scratch right up till dark but those are usually the less dominant hens. The older more dominant birds will hustle back to the coop to grab their spot on the roost bars next to the old rooster.

Occasionally I have trouble with one or another wanting to mill around in the yard after dark, but I just shut the coop door on them and wish them best. "Roost high, lady, cause the dark is FULL of things that love fresh chicken." A couple of times of that and you won't have any who don't go back into the coop at night.

When we first got them there were some difficulties with really new and young birds not wanting to go in the coop. I'd take a cup or two of grain and throw it in the coop when it was time to put them up. They'd get the point. Once you have older, mature birds then the young ones just follow their lead.


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## Bearfootfarm

> i feed inside @ night.


Chickens won't eat after dark.
I'd leave the food out all the time inside the coop and let them get used to going in and out


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## mommagoose_99

We leave the girls in the coop for 4-5 days and they usually get the idea. We also use a small light to convince them that the coop is the place to be. If you want eggs from your chickens , you need to give them feed in the coop 24/7. Chickens need to eat a certain amount of feed to be daily egg layers. Starving them for protein will not make eggs.
Linda


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## ||Downhome||

mine are pretty good about going in the coop. when they where younger they would huddle up outside and I just went out after dusk and put them in the pop door one at a time. no chaseing involved.

the problem I have is they like to escape out the run or coop now. its kinda like chicken commandos if I dont lock them in the run well collecting eggs, I have exterior access nest boxes.they pop out just like airborn out of a plane. I know that chickens are not given much credit on intelligence but they know which doors I will be opening and mob up waiting to make the break.
wich if I can stay with them is no problem but other wise its a safty concern. mostly hawks they seem to show up very shortly after I let the gals out.

I found out by accident they dont like a brown blanket, all I have to do is open the coop and then wave it a little bit to chase them back in. I also have a 6' slat (1/4" thick and 2" wide) wich helps with the round up. have a few that do football type evasion moves. so blanket one hand and stick in the other.the stick is all I need with the ducks.

m


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## Humburger

Locking them in the coop for a week is a good idea. That works for me.


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## CaliannG

I've always just kept them inside the coop 24/7 for the first week so they get the idea that that is where food, water and safety is. 

After that, it is more a question of how long it takes them to get OUT of the coop when I leave it open for them to range. Generally it takes them a few days to get brave enough to range more than 10 or 15 feet from the door.


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## Emmy D

Constant food, water and light inside the coop. I go out at 7:45 (now) each night and they are all waiting for me, some on the roost and some just milling around but they know they will get treats if they are in the coop. Treats are bread, lettuce, table scraps, they REALLY love cottage cheese!!

Get in a routine where you give them treats if they are all in at dark.

Emmy


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## harvestgirl

we have had them almost 2m now. they are 8w old. light on in coop, feed in coop @ night. a few go in/out all day, and tonight there were mabye 6 out of the 13 in..but the rest, same ol same ol ~ lol . and it's rainy & wet here now ~boy that's fun.

we are about to move to the property, one we do the yard will be fully fenced & our dogs will be in the yard. i'll feel better then if they don't go in the. for now, we aren't there fulltime & dogs are kenneld at night, so yeah, i want them in.

looks like more time until they get it..lol thanks everyone!


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## Danaus29

My grandma turned on a light in the coop a couple hours before sunset. The chickens would all go inside once it got dark outside.


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## Ozarkquilter46

I have a light on in my coop. food and water in coop. left them in coop for 3 days then let them in the run. Kept them there a month. Now fast forward Haha let them into the yard NO ONE wanted to go back into the run or coop. They liked the freedom put my thinkin cap on think think LOL I think I got it. The big red leaf rake. Yep worked great all you have to do is walk behind them making chicken noises and they think its a huge chicken and all ran back into the run and into to coop and kept peekin out the window LOL those little birdy brains are so very funny. Wonder how long it will fool them LOL


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## Forest Breath

I use a rooster, he gathers all the ladies up at duck and puts each one back in the coop, all safe and snug til morn.


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## Jay27

Mine go back on their own, but when they escape and I want them in, it usually takes myself, the husband and a dog to get them back in. Herding chickens can be like herding cats. The husband typically mans the door and the dog and I try to herd them towards the husband. The dog is helpful in that he will go in the bushes and tight spots. I toss a couple scoops of scratch grains, kitchen scraps or whatever I think they will enjoy to keep them from immediately running out while we wrangle the stragglers.


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## lisa's garden

It is easier to train them if you raise them from chicks instead of letting the momma hen raise them. When I was a kid I had a clutch of chicks that followed me around any where I went. They would steal all the worms when I went digging for fishing bait. They would follow me into the garden for the scraps I would toss them. I would carry grain in my pocket and feed them now and then and I guess they thought I was the momma hen. So if you take time to train them when they are little, they will follow you into the barn at night.

This does make it harder to cut off their heads when you are ready for a chicken dinner, however.


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## lauriej57

I can totally understand where you are coming from. I have 6 six week old chicks coming on Monday, and i totally forgot the problems I had getting my others in the coop/runs at night, until I read this. 

With my new chicks last year, I raised them from day olds in their coop. When they were feathered enough, I let them go out onto their porch that my husband built, that was for about 2 weeks, then the were big enough to go into their run and not get out of the 1x2 welded fence. Did that for about 4 weeks...and guess what, once they got out to free range, they did not want to go in at night. 

My older girls were in the big coop/big run. The big run is 6' high with welded wire on the top, my run is 99.9% predator proof, haven't had a problem in 2 years. When my older girls had this problem with they were younger, (they all wanted to roost in trees) I put up roosts in the runs, using tree branches, and that solved the problem for them. These younger ones though, in the smaller run/coop, had a covered run, same as the big run, but not as high and lower roosts didn't seem to work for them. 

So....I decided in the morning if I was going to let them free range at some point that day, if so, I didn't feed them. I fed them about an hour before dark, and they all followed me and the feed into the run. Those girls are all a year old now, and I do the same thing. I can let them out at 10 am, and if something comes up, and I want to put them away, I feed them, and they all follow me into the run. 

I do still have a problem with getting them into the coop at night. They all prefer to stay outside in the run, and I usually let them, unless it's stormy, or really cold. Once it's dark, if I turn the light on in the coop, walk into the run, and say, ok girls, it's time to go to bed, they hop off their roosts, one by one, and go into their coop. 

My 10 younger girls and the 4 older girls are all in the same larger coop and run now. The older girls always go in on their own an hour or so before dark, but they go to the roosts in the run, except for one, instead of the coop. It's just where the like to sleep.

Chickens don't eat in the dark, but they will eat an hour before dark, and usually leave some so they have a bit to eat in the morning.


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## harvestgirl

today is poured rain, thunder, lightning the whole shebang. nope ~ they stayed outside UNDER the coop...lol ~ nobody went in! when we put them in , it's actually not dark yet, so once we move there i'll wait til dark & see if that helps.


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## BethW

Ernie said:


> Mine start milling back down to the coop about an hour before dark...
> 
> When we first got them there were some difficulties with really new and young birds not wanting to go in the coop. I'd take a cup or two of grain and throw it in the coop when it was time to put them up. They'd get the point. Once you have older, mature birds then the young ones just follow their lead.


This has been my experience, too. The only time I have to play Chicken Roundup is if I want them to go into the coop early.


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