Can you hobble a chicken?

We have free range chickens and they have a chicken house to go in to lay eggs and sleep at night. They literally have a mobile home that we converted. It's a non livable house for people but chickens are ok. Any way... We had some new ones this summer and they were raised in a small hutch. Now they roost on the roof of the small hutch. With winter coming up we have been trying to teach them to go in the chicken house. This poses a problem. We have to catch them every night to put them in the house. For some reason they don't want to go in on thier own. I have bad knees and other health problems and no one else wants to help me catch them. So I am thinking about hobbling them to make them easier for me to catch. Granted I will un hobble them when they start going in on thier own. Has anyone else tried this? If so is it very effective or am I wasting my time and effort?

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Miram · 31-35, F

You need to keep them inside the house for few days so they consider it home

And make sure there are no parasites inside.

If they aren't getting along they won't sleep together.

JamieDeer ·

@Miram is right on the money..
lock them (all of them) in for a few days to get the new ones accustomed to roosting there and force them to form pecking order with the rest of your flock. Hobbling the noobies will probably get them beaten up by the rest while in the house/coop. Don't hobble.

Miram · 31-35, F

@JamieDeer Yeah, I never heard of hobbling to control their time out.

I have chicken here in my farm, and when I introduce new ones, it always requires locking them up like that and feed them inside their home till they get along.

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