Young birds out later than the older ones

[Hopeful homesteader]

My hens hatched out chicks in May that are now about 3 1/2 months old. While the hens were taking care of them they always went in to bed early with their moms and then after they were weaned they still went in early on their own. Now that they are bigger (same size as the mature birds) they stay out late until it's almost too dark to see. I'm not really concerned about them being out like that but curious what is the reason for the shift in schedule all of a sudden?

 

[Callender Girl]

It's just the opposite for my coops. The younger ones smartly go to be early, while my oldest hens want to hang outside until it's almost too dark. Chickens!

 

[aart]

I've found that the youngers wait until the olders are roosted, or they get chased out of the coop.

 

[Acre4Me]

Teenagers. Ours do this same thing too. But, we shorten this activity in our flock by catching them to put them in the coop. It doesn’t take too long before they see us coming at dusk and wisely go into the coop. While we have used a large net to catch them in the past, we currently can run them into a portable fence section, and then close off the section and simply pick them up out of the small enclosed area. Either way, they are not fans of this, so they get trained.

The portable fence I’m talking about are the 6 panel metal ones sold for dogs, maybe 3 feet high. Easy to maneuver and create a recess that can be closed off quickly once they are in that area.

 

[Shadrach]

I think this is normal. As essentially new members in an adult group they are at the bottom of the heirachy. Some try to go to roost early but as aart mentions, they usually get thrown out of the coop by the more senior hens until the seniors have taken up their roosting positions.

 

[3KillerBs]

Teenagers.

I've had that same experience. The teenagers stay out later.

My roosters are more effective at rounding them up and making them go in than I am.