Chicken Brains

There is something called chicken brains isn't there? There is in Norwegian at least. My little flock of 13 hens are an example. The weather has been gorgeous and we had repaired the outside run. Now we are just waiting for the chickens to actually go outside, scratch around in the dirt, and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. But no, the closest they have gotten by themselves is for the two bravest hens to lie on the platform outside the opening to sun themselves. First I stopped feeding them inside, until evening and scattered oats on the ramp. Then I moved the feeder outside and filled it there. Still those stupid chickens just craned their necks to peek out the opening put did not venture outside. Finally I simply waited until they had laid their eggs for the day and then chased them outside. The result: 6 or 7 came straight back inside, 5 of them didn't come in at all and had to be caught and put inside in the evening. They had forgotten to make note of the way in when I chased them out. Talk about chicken brains! Husband is sick and tired of catching chickens every evening. Tonight I'm home for once and this time I locked them out after chasing them out. Maybe if I don't open up until evening those 5 will learn from the others how to go back in. What I really need is to get a rooster who can teach them proper chicken behavior. They killed the rooster I had bought with them a few weeks after I got them.