This is a great reminder, thank you! I went back outside after the sun had come out for a few minutes, and there they all were -- happy as can be out in the run.
I think I just need to keep in mind that chickens can (and will) just... do things that make perfect sense to them, but not...
My flock of five hens are 11 weeks old and I've had them since 8 weeks. They've always had the coop and attached run, and had been spending the whole day outside until just recently.
Now they'll come out (auto door) for morning breakfast, cuddle up and nap, then at some point I check the coop...
Perhaps he was able to find homes for the flock -- I know many are looking to add birds right now.
And it helps that weather has shown some improvement this week!
For now, my auto door is set for light sensitivity. So in theory it responds to a predetermined % of light it detects and waits about 20 minutes before closing. So... if the girls are also going inside at around the same light % they'll hopefully make it in even on cloudy days.
It's only been...
I wish I could run electrical out there. For now my manually placed little candle will have to suffice! It definitely is nice to see them go in before it's actually dark.
Thank you, I'll do it again tonight and hope it continues to work. I don't know why I was so skeptical, but I just didn't expect something so simple to actually be effective!
Five pullets, second night as a chicken keeper. Night #1 I had to grab each girl and put her in the coop by hand, and I sat there until the auto-door closed. A little stressful for all of us.
So I did my internet sleuthing and read that putting a small light inside the coop before dusk will...