How to coerce chickens in their coop

[Loving my girls]

So very helpful... I'm trying the meal worms tonight!!
One usually goes inside. The other 5 sit on the "porch" ledge and wait to be put inside. It's not a big deal to put them in but would like to see them going in by themselves.
Thanks for sharing!!

In the past, with new hens, I wait till they’re asleep then pick them up and put them on a perch. As the others are asleep too they seem fine about seeing them in the morning.

 

[JessicaPoff]

@JessicaPoff did you get this worked out?

It is getting somewhat better. I am not feeding them during the day like someone had mentioned, only when it is time to be put up and I make sure they hear me put their food in there. This has helped a lot. I still have 4 of the younger ones that give me a fit though. They run straight to the door then do this football maneuver where they dodge the door and run somewhere else. Ends with one of us having to almost tackle them to catch them.

 

[FrostRanger]

I just place them in after dark. After a few days they get the idea

 

[Junction5672]

We had the same issues, we added a solar light and they started going to the light in the evenings and they all go in now.

We used:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09SH71134?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 

[Love Donkeys]

The only place where our young pullets can get food or water is in the coop. As they get older and start to free-range they know 4pm is scratch-feed time. The pullets scratch-feed is given out in the coop. So far, knock on wood, I haven't had a problem with them going to bed.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

A couple of things come to mind. As Ridgerunner and others mentioned, young chickens tend not to go to bed till it's pretty dark, and then they go to bed on their own. No chasing required. But second, I didn't see anyone ask about the size of your coop. If it's too small, they just won't go in, especially if the older girls go in first and won't let them in. What are the dimensions of your coop in feet (LxW), and how many chickens are we talking about?

Finally, I noticed in a recent post you said you stopped feeding your chickens during the day so you could tempt them in at dusk. You did mean you stopped feeding them TREATS like scratch and mealworms during the day, right? They still have their commercial feed pellets or crumbles available all day, correct?

 

[tlcmurphy]

This. You need to provide food and water during the day, they won’t eat after dark.

 

[Eroica]

We have 14 new chicks or should say chickens by now as they are close to laying age. They are a pain to get gathered up in the coop. They are with our older girls all day and do well and they do well when they are in the coop. But trying to get them from the yard to the coop is a horrible pain. Been over a couple months now, and each passing evening, it is a chore. We can spend a good 40 mins outside chasing chickens. They will not put themselves up, we have to for some reason do it manually. Any suggestions? This evening in the pouring rain, we tried to gather up the chickens. The older girls went into the coop, no issue, but the little ones gave us a run for our money as we got drenched and very muddy. I don’t know what else to do. 14 young chickens, this is hard.

I have a similar problem with my pullets when they are new to the main flock. For the first few days, I have to pick them up and put them in, one by one by one, but after that they get the memo and go inside on their own.
I don't know, maybe time will tell - but the light in my coop also helped, so I'd recommend that as well.

 

[bclawtx]

I have a similar problem with my pullets when they are new to the main flock. For the first few days, I have to pick them up and put them in, one by one by one, but after that they get the memo and go inside on their own.
I don't know, maybe time will tell - but the light in my coop also helped, so I'd recommend that as well.

What kind of light did you get? I have had little success with trying to find solar lightbulbs on amazon that turn on at dusk and turn of automatically later so the light isn't on all night keeping the chickens up!

 

[Eroica]

What kind of light did you get? I have had little success with trying to find solar lightbulbs on amazon that turn on at dusk and turn of automatically later so the light isn't on all night keeping the chickens up!

We just have a small LED light in the coop that we turn on in the morning, and off at night. It helps.