Question: introducing chicks to the coop / do they know to go back to the coop?

[swigginwhiskey]

Hey y'all. First post, good to be here.

My question(s) is/are relatively simple (I think?).

I've got 17 chicks I'm getting ready to introduce to their coop. They'll be 5/4 weeks old this upcoming week. Weather is fine, 65-75 estimated indefinitely (spring has sprung).

Here come my questions:

1. Should I keep them locked up in the coop with the doors shut the first X amount of time? I'm worried they're not going to associate the coop with their home (free range, no run; no predators (generally)).
2. Do I need to worry about a one lone hen, who also doesn't roost in my coop? She's an old girl who managed to survive this long. No idea who's chicken she is, but she's always around my yard.
3. Anything else I might be missing? First time having chickens myself, but been around them the majority of my life.

Anyways. Thanks everyone for your insight / suggestions. I've been perusing for quite some time; finally made the jump & joined.
Happy farming!!

 

[wolfpack65]

I don't have any advice - I'm in the same coop.

 

[NatJ]

I've got 17 chicks I'm getting ready to introduce to their coop...

1. Should I keep them locked up in the coop with the doors shut the first X amount of time? I'm worried they're not going to associate the coop with their home (free range, no run; no predators (generally)).

Yes, keep them shut in for at least a few days.
When you decide to try letting them out, do it only an hour or so before dark on the first few days. That way they don't have time to wander as far before it is time to go inside at bedtime.

If you can arrange a temporary run, that might also help. Then after the chicks have a few days shut in the coop, I would let them have run + coop for at least a week. That lets them see what the outdoors looks like and practice going into the coop at night, but they cannot go far enough to get lost, and if they do not go in you can easily collect them up and put them in. Once they are reliably going in at night, you could remove the temporary run and let them actually free range.

I don't have any thoughts about your other questions.

 

[ChookaPete]

They go where their Mama goes. If not, Mama makes sure to get them to go where she goes.

 

[swigginwhiskey]

They go where their Mama goes. If not, Mama makes sure to get them to go where she goes.

Well this one hen I have isn't 'technically' their mother, so does that matter? I mean there is a chance she'll try to like, take on that role.

So do you think I should be worried about them following her off to wherever she roosts?

 

[ChookaPete]

Well this one hen I have isn't 'technically' their mother, so does that matter? I mean there is a chance she'll try to like, take on that role.

So do you think I should be worried about them following her off to wherever she roosts?

Mama is Mama, whether biologically or not. If she is the chicken the chicks bonded with and who cares for them, then she is Mama.


Mama won't roost up high while she has baby chicks. She will find a comfy place low down somewhere out of the wind and make a nest, where they can keep warm underneath her.


Like Mama Clover here with Baby Chamomile:
https://streamable.com/fgze6u

 

[swigginwhiskey]

Mama is Mama, whether biologically or not. If she is the chicken the chicks bonded with and who cares for them, then she is Mama.


Mama won't roost up high while she has baby chicks. She will find a comfy place low down somewhere out of the wind and make a nest, where they can keep warm underneath her.


Like Mama Clover here with Baby Chamomile:
https://streamable.com/fgze6u

Gotcha. She hasn't even been introduced to them, ever. They've never met. I've taken care of them since day 1. They're currently 6 weeks old, and already out in the coop. They've been in there for about 4 days. I'm going to start letting them out next week, a couple hours before sundown so they can't stray too far. I was just worried they'd take off to wherever she goes since she's the oldest, even though they've never met.

 

[ChookaPete]

Gotcha. She hasn't even been introduced to them, ever. They've never met. I've taken care of them since day 1. They're currently 6 weeks old, and already out in the coop. They've been in there for about 4 days. I'm going to start letting them out next week, a couple hours before sundown so they can't stray too far. I was just worried they'd take off to wherever she goes since she's the oldest, even though they've never met.

Only if they have already bonded, will they follow her. By the sound of it, she is not their Mama. You are.

After you let them out, they might get lost by sunset and not know how to get back to the coop. Watch them for the whole time to see what they do and where they go. If they get lost by sunset, pick them up and take them back to the coop to sleep.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Gotcha. She hasn't even been introduced to them, ever. They've never met. I've taken care of them since day 1. They're currently 6 weeks old, and already out in the coop. They've been in there for about 4 days. I'm going to start letting them out next week, a couple hours before sundown so they can't stray too far. I was just worried they'd take off to wherever she goes since she's the oldest, even though they've never met.

They won't follow your older hen - she's an unknown chicken so she's more an adversary than anything as far as they're concerned. It sounds like you're free ranging and don't necessarily plan for them to flock together but it'll be interesting to see how both sides react to one another once they meet. She may eventually join them, or they may eventually end up following her around, but they could also possibly remain as two different groups.

As she's not using the coop you at least don't have to worry about her causing havoc in there.