When will my chickens go to bed?!

[littlebrownmouse]

Ok, its my second night as a chicken keeper. Its pouring with rain and very dusky. My wretched chickens are walking in and out of the coop and then back into the run, taking turns to perch and then come out again. At some point I need to shut them in for the night. Last night we put them to bed, I was hoping they'd go by themselves tonight as DH is out. At what point do I need to don my cagoule and go chasing them into bed?

They start mooching about for their roosts come twilight. Give it half an hour then get them settled. (It is still light up here for quite a while but it will be getting dark in the south(?) soon).

Well, they're in. One of them was perching on the water container making really cross noises and they were all soaked. Anyway, I picked them up as they appraoched the end of the eglu run, nipped round the side and put them into the door where you get the eggs out with the main front door shut so they couldn't escape. I suppose they'll learn to put themselves to bed soon will they? Seem unsure of where to roost and are quite keen onthe edge of their water container at the moment. I find it a bit strange that they stay out in the rain. They've got a sheltered bit in the run but seem quite content to mooch around and get wet. They are now in bed wet through, is this Ok?

They can take a little while to get used to their home - if they are still out in the run after dark then you can shine a light in their house so they head towards the light. They can't really see in the dark. Or you can get a large broom, lie down, and sweep them into their house!

What about them getting wet? Is this allowed or will they "catch their death"? It's chilly oop north you know.

I I need to get mine into their run and they're not co-operating I get a bit of bread, make sure they can see I have it and then lob it into the run. They chase after it and I shut the door - works every time .
I don't tend to shut the door to the actual house bit unless it's really cold, because mine make such a racket as soon as it's light in the morning and they want to get to their food.

There's not a lot you can do about it, short of putting them under a hairdryer...

I have enough trouble getting DD under the hairdryer!

Don't worry about them getting wet - feathers are remarkable things. I often see my hens scratching in big puddles while it absolute buckets down with rain. They're not fussed and they dry out very quickly when they go in.

My chickens go in before it's dark now but they will often come running out when they hear me opening the gate - either they don't like to be shut in too early or they think I might have some more food! Yours will settle down soon.