Yours are 9 weeks old. I typically have mine ranging with the flock at 5 weeks. I've had broody hens wean their chicks at three weeks and leave them to make their own way with the flock on their own. This is with an adult flock, you don't have that. Even at these ages they know where to go at night.
Yours are roosting at night. To me that indicates they have been there for a while and know where home is. So yes, they will want to return there at night.
But a word of warning, this has happened to me a few times. When I first let them out to roam they want to get back home when it starts getting dark. They get desperate to go back home. They get so desperate they lose all concept of gate. They can get stuck behind a fence close to the coop and cannot get through. Although they have been using a gate all day to go back and forth they totally forget about that gate that is only ten feet away. You need to be out there about dark to make sure they are not stuck somewhere like that. Herding them to that gate a time or two is all it takes for them to get that message, and most get it right without needing help to start with, but some can have real problems with that.
Just another case where chicken TV is better than anything on cable, satellite, or antenna.
Yours are roosting at night. To me that indicates they have been there for a while and know where home is. So yes, they will want to return there at night.
But a word of warning, this has happened to me a few times. When I first let them out to roam they want to get back home when it starts getting dark. They get desperate to go back home. They get so desperate they lose all concept of gate. They can get stuck behind a fence close to the coop and cannot get through. Although they have been using a gate all day to go back and forth they totally forget about that gate that is only ten feet away. You need to be out there about dark to make sure they are not stuck somewhere like that. Herding them to that gate a time or two is all it takes for them to get that message, and most get it right without needing help to start with, but some can have real problems with that.
Just another case where chicken TV is better than anything on cable, satellite, or antenna.
