Peaceful Chicken Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 We Finally Just Got Our First Chickens Today: 2 White Leghorns & 1 Barred Rock, About A Year Old, Who Lived Together In A Run / Coop. Tonight, Although We Put A Light In Their New Eglu-go Coop, They Tried To Roost On Top Of The Coop Instead Of Inside It. I Understand That Leghorns, Especially, I Think, Will Roost In Trees Sometimes. We Had To Pick Them Up And Put Them All In The Coop At Night. My Question: Should We Just Keep Doing This Every Night, In The Hopes That They Will Eventually Understand This Is Where They Should Go At Night? How Long Will It Likely Take Them To Learn This? It's Important They Go Inside Their Coop At Night As There Are Predators, And Although We Have Made A Lovely, Large, And Largely Predator-proof Run, They Need To Be Inside At Night. We Are Planning To Leave Them For A Few Days In About 12 Days, Leaving The Door To Their Coop Open At Night As It Will Be Safe In The Run, But Will They Have Learned By Then To Go In It On Their Own? Thanks To All For Your Kind Help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Chicken Posted September 26, 2011 Author Share Posted September 26, 2011 (edited) P.S. We are planning to put a roll of chicken wire on top of the eglu-go coop to discourage them roosting there. Any other thoughts / suggestions? Thanks! Edited September 28, 2011 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 They usually learn fairly quickly so I think it should be sorted by the time you go away . It's not a huge issue if they don't sleep "indoors" though (as long as their run is secure, which you say yours is). Mine all sleep al fresco. (Sorry to ask, but would it be possible for you to post without the initial capitals on each word? I find it quite hard to read!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennym Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 We Had To Pick Them Up And Put Them All In The Coop At Night. My Question: Should We Just Keep Doing This Every Night, In The Hopes That They Will Eventually Understand This Is Where They Should Go At Night. How Long Will It Likely Take Them To Learn This? I think that's exactly what to do. If you persevere for a few days they should learn to go to bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 I find it takes a couple nights for them to get use to putting themselves to bed that said I've got 2 pullets that when I moved them into my number laying group they took themselves to bed with no trouble for about a week then for best part of a month had to be lifted through the pop hole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKMARCH Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 You could try putting the go on a table we do this with our classic and they automatically try to go to the highest point to roost we only needed to put them in for one or two nights before they got the hang of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Chicken Posted September 26, 2011 Author Share Posted September 26, 2011 That's a great idea -- to put the Go on a table. I'll see how it goes the next day or so & then get a table in there if need be. Will keep you posted! Many thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Chicken Posted September 28, 2011 Author Share Posted September 28, 2011 (edited) Update: Hens are now putting themselves to bed very nicely. Thanks to all for your kind support, and to all a goodnight! Edited September 28, 2011 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
