Why didn't my chickens go to bed?

[MIChickandGuinea]

Every night before tonight, my chickens have tootled up the ramp to the coop just at dusk, and they're fast asleep by dark. Tonight, most of them did that, but three were chilling on the nice high perch outside the coop (the cool crowd sometimes hangs there until seconds before dusk, those wild girls!)... and they fell asleep there and never went in to the coop. I checked the coop - the usual snuggle partners were all snuggled up in the usual places, and there was nothing out of the ordinary in there. The perches inside the coop were clear and available (lots of the girls like to jam themselves into nesting boxes to sleep...) So most of the coop space and perch space was completely available, yet three girls decided to sleep outside. Do chickens sometimes decide to have a camp-out? I did move them into the coop so I could close their safety door. I didn't want their fun camp-out to end with someone getting eaten.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Yes, some will try to camp outside. Some more than others. (I had one game mix that wanted to nest high in a tree).

You can train them to go in better by feeding them treats at the coop door/run so that they know to come down and go inside. That can help with the stragglers.

And yes...absolutely...round the stubborn ones up or they become someone's midnight snack.

LofMc

 

[chickens really]

Possibly too warm...Chickens give off lots of heat...Sometimes a few of mine sleep out in the run...I never worry....

 

[azygous]

This past spring, I began having trouble with a young EE hen insisting on roosting on the overhang to the main coop instead of going into her own coop which is at the opposite end of the main run.

Each night I would stuff her into her coop or place her on the perch. Often it requires several tries to get her to stay. So I decided to watch the dynamics at roosting time to try to find out the reason why she didn't want to go into her coop.

It turned out that one of her former brooder mates was giving her a solid beak pounding when she tried to use the roosting perch. I solved the problem by stapling a piece of discarded tarp over the perch to create a partition. Now there is peace at roosting time, and she no longer feels the need to try to roost out in the run.

You can learn a lot by observing flock dynamics. It will help you solve a lot of behavior "mysteries".

 

[aart]

The perches inside the coop were clear and available (lots of the girls like to jam themselves into nesting boxes to sleep...)

These are signs of coop crowding and/or integrations...
...... and you just went thru a couple integrations?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/operation-integration-stage-2.1188655/#post-18779577