hens roosting outdoors

[chick-flo-a]

I have 4 adult hens and two teenagers. The teenagers will not roost in the coop - they're roosting somewhere in the trees or hedges in my yard. Last night one of the adult girls joined them outside. I have a coop with a run attached but most days I let the girls out to free range in a section of my yard. My usual routine is to go out after dusk to close up the run and coop and the girls are all safely roosting in the coop. But now - at dusk - the teenagers are hidden in the trees. Any ideas on how to break this outdoor roosting habit.
I've tried getting them all in the run in the morning. By then the teens are hungry and want to get in the run where the food is. So after they go in - I'll lock them in and keep all the hens in the coop/enclosed run area for 2 or 3 days. But once I let them out into the yard again - they resume their outdoor roosting.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Assuming the run is big enough for all the birds to stay in without issue, try keeping them in for longer, like a few weeks, to break the habit.

Also assess your roost situation - how much roost space is there? Have the younger birds ever roosted in the coop and/or have you ever tried to force the issue? Is there more than one roost so the young birds don't have to share with the older ones? Are the roosts far enough apart (14-16" or more) that the adults can't pick on the younger ones?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Can we get a picture of your setup showing both the coop and the run, and also the dimensions of both? In other words what is the LxW of the coop and also the LxW of the run. Thanks.