That’s interesting. My chickens have always gone in before it gets totally dark so I wonder if the light was too bright. I have motion lights on my coop. They’re solar powered but they do shine into the coop when they are set off. Is that a possibility for you? I don’t know how much help light is in deterring predators. There are probably some threads on that worth looking at. It’s possible the light you currently have is so bright it is messing with their circadian rhythm
I'm starting to realize another reason why this probably started was because my head pullet would sit on the roost first, around 40 minutes before pitch black sky. Then, for the next hour she'd bend down and peck anyone who came inside. This is an odd behavior, because she only ever behaves like this at sundown. I did try separating her for a few days before I realized she became more aggressive about affirming her place in the pecking order when she was reintroduced. She is one of the lightest birds in weight and was previously at the bottom of the pecking order until she was 9 weeks old. I think the others don't go to bed as early anymore because they are waiting for her to go to bed, and she eventually got bored waiting for the others who never came in. She started becoming the last to go in the coop. They're funny birds. I don't mind having to put them to bed every night, I'm practically doing that already by coming out if they don't settle down.
This sounds like boss hen behavior. Has she made it that high up in the pecking order?
