# My 3 silkies doent return to the coop. :(



## ShabbySilkies (Jun 21, 2013)

I installed a light and also checked the ramp. The coop is safe and super clean.
I have to go out everyday at the end of the day and place one by one inside the coop. I always find them laying in the corner of the entrance of the coop but they don't get in the coop.
Any advice ? My babies Silkies are a little bit older than a month and a half. I wonder if they are too young ?


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## Apyl (Jun 20, 2012)

You have to put them in yourself. After a while they will learn to go in. This is why people lock their chickens in the coop for a couple days when first putting them in their pen, its so they know where home is and where to go to at night.


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## ShabbySilkies (Jun 21, 2013)

Aply, I did. I left them for 3 weeks in order for them to know that the coop was their home. Maybe I should keep them inside the coop for couple more weeks ? I don't mind to keep bringing them back one by one until they started doing on their own? Because its my first time raising chickens I just want to make sure that I'm doing the right thing


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

From what I understand from other silkie owners, this is typical to the breed. They don't seem to have the instinct to "go home to roost" like other breeds and are more ground dwelling birds. Could be why they don't instinctively search for roosting when it gets dusk like other birds. 

Without older birds to help you set an example, it might be that you have to throw some scratch or BOSS down in the coop each evening and just shut the door, until they get the idea.


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## Apyl (Jun 20, 2012)

I have silkies and they have always returned to the coop, heck they are always the first to head into the coop. What I did was kept them inside the coop for a couple days, then kept them in the run that is around the coop for 2 weeks. After that they have free ranged for over a year now and have always been the first to go into the coop. So no not all silkies are hard to get to go in. 

It just takes some patience and routine.


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## Barnbum374 (Mar 14, 2013)

I had a plastic dog kennel that I put on the floor of the chicken run. For the first week they used it instead of the coop. The second week I moved the kennel into their coop. The first night I had to place them in the coop to show them where the kennel was, but that was it. They now make their way to the coop on their own.


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## camel934 (Sep 9, 2012)

When it starts getting dark, my Roo heads into the coop, calling the girls. They slowly follow. The only time I've had trouble was the other day when a terrible storm was coming and I wanted them to go into the coop early. It took some catch and place for the first couple and then the rest followed. Otherwise, I never have any issue. I go in and shut the door


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## ShabbySilkies (Jun 21, 2013)

Maybe my Silkies doesn't like the ramp !
When I build the chicken coop I left the wall that goes to the chicken running not solid because I'm in Florida and can get very hot in here. Couple days ago it was almost 98 inside the coop even with the Fan and opened window.
Some friends had told me to just closed the little door that goes to the chicken running, but I'm scare that a snake can manage to get inside the room and hurt my chicks.

Finally one of my silkies came inside the coop all by herself... I guess slowly they will start coming to the coop at the end of the day!
Thank you all for sharing your experiences


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## soratosjc (Jul 8, 2013)

We have 3 week old pullets, 2 RIR's, 1 silver Americauna, 1 barred Plymouth Rock. They have been in the coop since they were 2 weeks old. All week long, we have to go out at night and put them into the coop but all day, they go in and out of the coop! Soooo frustrating! Gonna have to find a way to lure them in at night.


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## fuzziebutt (Aug 7, 2012)

Shabby, they need something off the ground, something that the air can circulate under, and predators can't crawl into. Maybe build a box with a chickenwire window up off the ground a few feet. Then put the walkway down to the run.


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