Coop Behavior Question

[Newtohens]

So my girls have been out in their coop and run for about a week now, and in the beginning they loved being out in the sun and pecking and scratching outside. At dusk we would go out and put them in to roost for the first nights and then let them back out in the morning. It took about three days before they started putting themselves to bed, but now that they know how to go in and out of the coop, they seem to be spending much much more time in the coop, than outside enjoying the outdoors. Has anyone else run into this? Is this normal behavior?

 

[bethandjoeync]

do you think there could be a predator lurking that they are afraid of, that you haven't noticed yet?

 

[Newtohens]

I have been out a bunch of times and walked all around the coop. I have seen no signs of any predators, no signs of preadators testing the run for weakness (digging, fence pulls, etc). They just seem to be happy in the coop.

 

[LeezyBeezy]

I find my two hens and rooster in our barn, more often than not. They just feel safe, I think. However, my adventurous hen has decided it might be OK to go over to the nieghbors... LOL. I've had to shoo them back to the barn twice already!