[stentman]

Chicken keepers I need some chook herding advice please. A good friend has asked me to round up his chooks and get them bedded down for the night. This is for one night only (Friday) and I will have two very willing helpers in my son and daughter 7 and 8 years old respectively. There are 4 chooks, white with black edges, they live in a covered run around 20ft square with the hen house in the corner. Any hints and tips, do's and don'ts on chook herding would be much apprieciated. My chook experience could be written on the back of postage stamp with a large felt tipped pen.

[Springlands]

Hi Stentman - my OH has been keeping chickens for three years now. Our chicks normally head to the chicken house of their own accord about an hour before dark - just as dusk is falling. From experience there is nothing as difficult as trying to heard unwilling chickens where they do not want to go. 

[joyfull]

usually they will take them off to bed themselves so then you just have to shut them in, if not try bribery - some of their treats (mixed corn) usually works wonders  

[Mulberry1990]

When doing it with children, make sure the children don't run after them, it makes them very flighty and difficult to calm down! (found that out the hard way)
We get ours into bed every night by throwing treats into where we want them to go, mealworms always work with them.
Failing that, we heard our rabbits in by following them around and edging them closer to their bed until they get in themselves, so that might work for chickens too, not sure!
Good luck!

[Colbeck1megane]

By 9:30 all of ours have put themselves to bed!

[Pretty Chick]

Ours come as soon as they see me walking towards where we keep their food

[sneezer]

mine go to bed between 8.30 and 9, I would just let them naturally go in, I would ask your friend what method they use are the girls used to being picked up and placed in the coop?

[stentman]

Seems normally they go to the hen house around 7.30 whether by accident or design I don't know and they are not used to being handled at all. Using treat sounds like a plan though and will give that a try as option 1.

[CattinJ]

Ours do go in themselves, but can sometimes be naughty and run off if we're trying to get them in early - so we walk behind them slowly with arms spread out and sort of slowly flapping them /shooing them!  It looks pretty daft but usually works - we read this method in a poultry keeping book (the key is to not rush too much).   My husband uses a large outdoor broom to heard them.  Of course the best thing is something like a small tin of sweetcorn (no sugar/salt added) and scatter at regular intervals headingtowards the coop...
Good Luck!

[stentman]

Done and done. No problems what so ever all three of us held hands forming a little chain, we walked them slowly towards the hen house, the chooks seemed to know the score and dutifully trotted in without any fuss at all. Calm and quiet with no sudden movements worked just fine thanks one and all for the advice. Bonus three eggs as well.

[CattinJ]

well done - fancy keeping any of your own now??!