Help! My Chickens Aren’t Going into the Coop at Night! 

Chickens are creatures of habit. Every evening, as the sun dips in the sky, you’ll notice your flock heading to their coop to settle in for the night. Likely, you’ll hear your rooster crow a few times, see him circle the door to the coop, and stand by, making sure everyone gets safely inside before dark. There may be a bit of squabbling as everyone finds their favorite spot to roost. Finally, the coop will go quiet as your chickens drift safely off to sleep. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. 

Sometimes, though, things don’t go as planned. As you lock up your chickens for the night, you might discover that not everyone has made their way inside. Perhaps you’re panicked, trying to run through your yard and gather up wayward chickens for the night. If your chickens aren’t returning to their roost every night, you are right to be concerned. Chickens that sleep outside of the coop are easy targets for nighttime predators. But chances are, all it takes is a little problem-solving to get your chickens back inside again. 

They don’t realize the coop is their home. 

The biggest challenge we see when chickens won’t go into the coop at night is that they don’t realize this is their home. For example, if you just added some new hens to your flock, they won’t realize that the coop is their home yet. You might find them roosting in trees, on a garden trellis, or even on top of the coop! This is a very easy problem to solve - it just takes a little patience. 

This is what to do if your chickens aren’t going into the coop at night, especially if they are new to your backyard. You need to keep the chickens locked in their coop for 5 to 7 days. This will imprint on their minds that this is their permanent home. 

When you keep them inside the coop, you’ll still need to make sure they have fresh water and food every day. If the coop is dark inside, they will likely be less active, but that’s ok. Just make sure they have enough light to eat and drink. You’ll want to check on them to make sure everyone is doing ok, but be careful not to let them out for the full amount of time. It’s also important that they have adequate ventilation, too. 

After five to seven days, you can let the chickens out, but make sure you let them out of the door you want them to return to. Otherwise, they won’t know how to get back in the coop at night. 

Five to seven days is long enough for most chickens to learn that the coop is their home. However, you may need to repeat this procedure if you have some exceptionally stubborn! 

Your coop is over-crowded. 

Another common reason that chickens don’t want to go back into the coop at night is that it simply is overcrowded. If there are too many chickens, they’ll feel more comfortable staying outside than trying to all squish in at night. 

Standard chicken breeds need about four square feet of coop per bird. Larger breeds will need more, while miniature breeds can be ok with less. 

To fix this, you may need to thin out your flock, enlarge your coop, or move some to a separate coop. If you move some to another coop, you’ll want to keep them inside for several days so they learn to go in at night. 

There aren’t enough places to roost. 

The coop is too dirty.

Chickens are generally not picky about where they live. They don’t care if it’s an old shed, a fancy chicken coop, a barn, or a little outbuilding you’ve cobbled together. However, if it’s really dirty and stinky, they may avoid going inside. 

If you haven’t cleaned your coop in a long time (aside from the deep litter method) your chickens might start a coop of their own and avoid going in the coop! But this too is an easy fix. The build-up of dirt and ammonia might make the coop uncomfortable for them (and for you!). 

On a nice weather day, shovel out all of the old chicken poop (you might want to wear a mask), hose it down, and allow it to air out and dry. Put down a nice layer of litter (such as fresh straw, leaves, hemp, sand, or pine shavings), and your chickens might just start going back inside again. 

Your coop is infested. 

Don’t beat yourself up, but infestations can happen. Mites, lice, mice, and rats are common around chicken coops, and you may need to take some steps to mitigate the problem. A generous helping of diatomaceous earth or some chicken-safe rat traps might be needed to make your hens feel better inside. 

If rodents are a problem, you’ll need to make sure to seal up your coop well. Rats can get into crevices as small as a quarter, so use some hardware cloth to close up any small openings. 

Trauma happened in the coop. 

Dusk and dawn are precarious times for chickens. It’s a busy time for predators looking for an easy meal and chickens don’t see well as the light begins to fade. 

I’ll never forget the evening when a fox got to the chicken coop just minutes before I went to close the door. Not only did it take out half of my flock as they were heading in for the night, it left the rest of the flock traumatized and afraid. Their safe home had been infiltrated. 

The poor hens didn’t know what to do, and they certainly didn’t want to go back inside the coop. If this happens, you may need to clean the coop thoroughly to diminish the scent of the predator, give them some fresh litter, and lock them in the coop with food and water for a couple of days until things settle down. 

Applying Avaplex® to your chicken’s water will help reduce their stress and help them deal with the trauma they experienced. 

Your chickens aren’t getting along. 

Just like having kids, some chickens just don’t get along. They may squabble over roosts, they may squabble over nest boxes, and they might just get annoyed enough to stay out of the coop. 

Sometimes, these issues resolve on their own. Other times, you might need to intervene. If you know one particular hen is a bully, you can separate her from the others for a few days. Keep her somewhere safe - like a large dog crate in your garage, for example, making sure she has food and water. 

This will ‘reset’ the pecking order, and after a few days, when you return her to the flock, she’ll have moved to the bottom of the pecking order. 

You have too many roosters. 

It’s very typical for roosters to mate each hen as they head into the coop for the night. If you have too many roosters, your hens might feel ganged up on as they try to head inside for bed. This could be enough stress to keep them outside, where it isn’t safe. 

Generally speaking, you need one rooster for every ten hens. If you have more than that and your hens aren’t going to bed at night, you might want to reconsider how many roosters you actually keep. 

Just remember, if your chickens aren’t going into the coop at night, there’s probably a very good reason. But with a little problem solving, some stress-busting Avaplex, and a little TLC, you’ll get everyone back into the coop, right where they are supposed to be.