Hen won't go into the coop at night

[Alij603]

So I have six hens,one rooster and all but one hen go into the coop as the light starts to fade. However Henrietta seems to think it's a better idea to sleep on the wood pile against the wall under the deck by herself. Every night after counting my flock I have to walk across the yard to pick her up from the wood pile and bring her to the coop. Our rooster Lars can't relax until all the girls are accounted for and I don't want him roosting on top of the coop. I've never seen her bullied and there is more than enough room for everyone in the coop which is always clean and comfortable. Has anyone else had this happen? Should I just get used to the nightly ritual of taking her back to the safety of the coop?

 

[Chickenmanjim7]

Hmm odd. Doesn't she have any vision problems? It's odd for a flock based animal to not follow the flock

 

[Alij603]

Yeah it worries me. I'm not sure about her vision I feed her meal worms by hand occasionally without a problem and she spends all day with the rest of the flock, the only odd behavior is the sleeping on the wood pile.

 

[aart]

How old are your birds..are they all the same age?
How big is your coop...in feet by feet?
How long is the roost..again, in feet?
Pics of coop, inside and out, might help detect an issue.

Do your ducks, in your avatar, live in the same coop?

You might not see her bullied, but she still might be low bird in the pecking order.

 

[Alij603]

The coop is 3.5' wide/long and 4+ high with an extra foot on both sides for the nesting boxes. The roosts are 3' and there's 3 each. The birds were all purchased at the same time and are about 7 months old ( just started laying a couple of weeks ago) The ducks have their own space and while they mingle in the yard I have never witnessed aggressive behavior from either side. As for her order in the flock I'm still working on understanding the subtleties of their behavior.

And lastly the duck enclosure

The coop was a gift from my GF but I'm planning on building a much bigger one as soon as I clear some land on our property.

 

[aart]

3.5 x 3.5 is really tight quarters for 7 birds...so, it's crowding stress, maybe exacerbated by the high flowing hormones of new layers.

 

[Alij603]

Then I'll have to build a new coop this month. Like I said the set up was a gift from the GF and the sellers really misrepresented the capacity,saying it is suitable for 10 to 15 chickens. What a load of BS! Welp time to go hit the lumber yard and start clearing some more space. Thanks for your time.

 

[Alij603]

They do have a large run and spend most of their time free ranging.

 

[aart]

Then I'll have to build a new coop this month. Like I said the set up was a gift from the GF and the sellers really misrepresented the capacity,saying it is suitable for 10 to 15 chickens. What a load of BS! Welp time to go hit the lumber yard and start clearing some more space. Thanks for your time.

Don't feel too bad......this is a frequent occurrence due to that mismarketing those lies.
It's a heartbreaker for newbies and huge pet peeve for us more experienced chickeneers.

Good news is, that little coop will make a great grow out coop for chicks, or an isolation coop if a bird gets sick/hurt, or a broody coop.

There's a couple good articles linked in my signature on Space and Ventilation that might help with your new coop design.

 

[Alij603]

Thank you for taking some time to give me some much needed info.