Half of flock sleeping inside hen house; other half, outside

[MAT10]

Half of flock sleeps inside hen house; other half, outside. 10 hens. ALL used to sleep inside but now half are in & other half are out. Old girls (2 yrs old) are inside tonight & the new additions (1 yr old) are outside. So weird to me. So random too. (Just noticed this behavior tonight) They have all roosted together since integration, until now. PLENTY of room in hen house & PLENTY ventilation.
What's going on? What should I do?

 

[nuthatched]

Old ones aren't letting them roost.

 

[BDutch]

If you have a safe run with a roof where the young ones stay it’s not a real problem. When it’s getting colder they probably go inside again.

Tips:
Add a second roost far enough away from the old roost. Best not seeing each other.

Get them all inside way before dark. This is easy to learn by giving treats inside, like scratch, boiled rice or mealworms before roost time.

 

[MAT10]

Old ones aren't letting them roost.

Why would that be after roosting together for over a year now?

The run is covered & safe but this behavior defeats the purpose of a dropping board.
I have one roost bar full length of the coop. About 10'

 

[BDutch]

Sometimes their preferences are not easy to understand for us.

Maybe it’s the fresh air (might need more ventilation). How much ventilation is there inside the coop?

Maybe it’s avoiding stress or quarrelling (give the young ones personal space).
You could try to make a divider halfway the roost (piece of cardboard with a hole - not seeing might solve the stress) and see if that works.
You need to lock them up actively for a few days after you have added the divider.
Take some time to see what is going on at roost time, when you lock them all inside the coop.

Maybe they just don’t like each other (different breeds).

Try to imagine what the reason behind this is and try to solve that. Or post a few pictures of your setup and chickens for others to chime in.

 

[BDutch]

If nothing seems to work to get them inside , you can make a second roost with poop board in the run too.

 

[goats-n-oats]

The only reasons my chickens would choose to roost outside are: they feel threatened by a new puppy; it's too hot in the coop; they were late to come home from foraging and got locked outside.

 

[LaFleche]

Half of flock sleeps inside hen house; other half, outside. 10 hens. ALL used to sleep inside but now half are in & other half are out. Old girls (2 yrs old) are inside tonight & the new additions (1 yr old) are outside. So weird to me. So random too. (Just noticed this behavior tonight) They have all roosted together since integration, until now. PLENTY of room in hen house & PLENTY ventilation.
What's going on? What should I do?

Inspect closely for poultry mites.

 

[goats-n-oats]

About 20 of my 150 chickens prefer to roost and live in the main section of the barn where the goats and dogs are. The rest stay in the section of the barn designated as the chicken coop. I will move these 20 chickens into the coop at night and they always find their way back to the goat pen the next day. I guess they have their social group and access to better food (goat poop, fresh hay, and goat grain leftovers).

 

[Stickinator]

Why would that be after roosting together for over a year now?

The run is covered & safe but this behavior defeats the purpose of a dropping board.
I have one roost bar full length of the coop. About 10'

I have a high and lower rooting bar. This allows everyone to roost by pecking order. The bossy hens won't allow the hens low in the pecking order up high.