Chickens stopped going into coop at night

[ATXInstantFlock]

My flock put itself to bed after about a week, but then they stopped doing it and now I have to put them to bed by hand every night. To my untrained eyes, the coop isn't that dirty or smelly (plenty of pellets and whatnot) and they certainly still go inside to use the nesting boxes every day. I tried to use the approach of putting a light on around dusk to lure them inside before the door auto-closes 90 min after it senses darkness, but they're happy on their outdoor roosting bars.

The coop is within a secure pen, so they have no fear of potential predators. Unfortunately, there are a small handful of light sources nearby. It's not bright at night, but it would be difficult to eliminate them all to get pitch black (street lights and security lights maybe a hundred feet away).

I tried using a handheld light that I turn on and hang in the coop, but it's hard to find the time to do it consistently. If a light to attract them is the best way to go, any recommendations on a powered light that can automatically turn on for 1-2 hours would be great. Most of the ones I have seen appear to either stay on all night or required you to push a specific timer which doesn't really meet my desired amount of automation.

I would prefer not to run power to my coop so something wireless or solar powered would be ideal. I do have a 12V battery that powers my chicken door.

 

[LoveChickens27]

My flock put itself to bed after about a week, but then they stopped doing it and now I have to put them to bed by hand every night. To my untrained eyes, the coop isn't that dirty or smelly (plenty of pellets and whatnot) and they certainly still go inside to use the nesting boxes every day. I tried to use the approach of putting a light on around dusk to lure them inside before the door auto-closes 90 min after it senses darkness, but they're happy on their outdoor roosting bars.

The coop is within a secure pen, so they have no fear of potential predators. Unfortunately, there are a small handful of light sources nearby. It's not bright at night, but it would be difficult to eliminate them all to get pitch black (street lights and security lights maybe a hundred feet away).

I tried using a handheld light that I turn on and hang in the coop, but it's hard to find the time to do it consistently. If a light to attract them is the best way to go, any recommendations on a powered light that can automatically turn on for 1-2 hours would be great. Most of the ones I have seen appear to either stay on all night or required you to push a specific timer which doesn't really meet my desired amount of automation.

I have about 2 or so of my chickens who don't go into their coop for the night too, but what I do, is I go in the coop when it is dark with a headlamp, and I put them on the roosts. You can also put them at the entrance of the doorway to their coop to encourage them to do it themselves.
I hope this helped!

 

[ATXInstantFlock]

I go in the coop when it is dark with a headlamp, and I put them on the roosts. You can also put them at the entrance of the doorway to their coop to encourage them to do it themselves.

Thanks for the suggestion. This is more or less what I am already doing.

I was hoping for a solution that didn't require a person to go out there. I experienced a week or two of them doing it all on their own, but now it's been about a month where they refuse. It was really nice not needing to go out the extra 1-2 times/day to turn on a light on, tuck them in, or turn the light back off so it's not on all night.
In particular, this extra work increases the requirements of anyone we ask to come help take care of them which is not ideal.

Since we are suburban chicken owners, I try to keep them inside their coop during night hours to minimize noise & disturbance to our neighbors.

P.S. Once I get out there and put them at the doorway, most of them will go in and stay in, they just don't want to go to bed on their own. I've trained them to appreciate evening snuggles and tuckins the same way my kids want them. LOL

 

[LoveChickens27]

LOL! Okay, wonderful. Sorry, I don't know how much more I can help.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Any photos of the coop? Do you have decently large windows to let in natural light into the coop?

How is the ventilation in the coop? Has it been hot lately?

Have you checked for mites?

 

[ATXInstantFlock]

Any photos of the coop? Do you have decently large windows to let in natural light into the coop?

There's some natural light, but not a lot. It's a SnapLock Large Chicken Coop raised off the ground, and placed inside of a poultry pen with a roof.

How is the ventilation in the coop? Has it been hot lately?

Have you checked for mites?

Ventilation should be fine, and it's been cooler than it was when they were going in by themselves. I have checked for mites but did not find any. Being a newbie chicken owner, the advice I was given to try shining a bright light at night on the underside of the roosting bars and coop to see if I can find anything and I don't see little creepy crawlies or evidence that the flock is being bitten.

They did stop going in roughly when I tried adding dried coffee grounds to the substrate in the coop, but I haven't had time to take it all out and switch back to just pine pellets. Note that when putting them in by hand, only one of them sometimes tries to come back out. So I think they're just being unruly adolescents more than they are scared of going in there.

 

[ATXInstantFlock]

I don't have a recent photo handy, but this is roughly what it looks like without the actual coop in there. It goes on top of that stand.

 

[rosemarythyme]

There's some natural light, but not a lot. It's a SnapLock Large Chicken Coop raised off the ground, and placed inside of a poultry pen with a roof.

That's likely the reason you're finding it necessary to add artificial lighting. If they can't see clearly inside at dusk (and the sun shifts in position during the year), which can impact that, then they won't want to go in.

Unfortunately I don't have a light I can recommend that would be mostly automated, but hopefully someone else might.

They did stop going in roughly when I tried adding dried coffee grounds to the substrate in the coop, but I haven't had time to take it all out and switch back to just pine pellets. Note that when putting them in by hand, only one of them sometimes tries to come back out. So I think they're just being unruly adolescents more than they are scared of going in there.

The change in bedding could've upset them, especially since coffee has a different scent than wood based bedding.

 

[Debbie292d]

Not sure how far your coop is from your home, but knowing what you need I couldn't find, so how about a remote control, rechargeable 2 pack of LED bulbs that you can turn on for an hour and it'll shut off itself?

Something like this?

 

[ATXInstantFlock]

Not sure how far your coop is from your home, but knowing what you need I couldn't find, so how about a remote control, rechargeable 2 pack of LED bulbs that you can turn on for an hour and it'll shut off itself?

Something like this?

It's only about 20' from my kitchen so that would probably work. Thanks for the suggestion. I had stumbled across that light and/or some very similar items that seem to be able to do the auto on OR auto off, but not at the same time. I'll keep looking and hopefully something turns up that can handle both.

In the meantime, I'll work on some repositioning possibilities and try to get all the coffee grounds out of there. The pelletized bedding is cheap enough that I am okay starting over in there. I've got another 4-5 bags in my garage, as-is.