new pullet sleeps alone in next box

[Dnetschke]

 

[hollys chooks]

Every coop is a soap opera. Have had similar problems with new chooks. I don't like them sleeping in the nest box as they poop in it.

Are you able to put in a second roost rail? That has made evening squabbles less in my coop.

Is your new girl laying yet? I found with my smallest pullet that when she started laying her behaviour changed and the rest of them accepted her a lot more, they still have their little tiffs but a lot less serious. The change really was overnight, she went from roosting in a tree to roosting in the coop with the others on the day she laid her first egg.

 

[chicknnugget]

No. My new gal is not laying yet, she is still too young. I am not crazy about her sleeping in the nest boxes either. It is just more stuff to clean every morning. I will have to take a closer look in my tiny coop to see if I can squeeze another small roost across from the original. She would prob. not even dare to hop up there however. But I will give it a shot. My poor little gal is really lacking ANY self confidence. I have been keeping her and the level headed Orpington who is the boss seperated from the EE and Wyandott who are the trouble makers. She seems only slightly skiddish with the boss. If she is with the oher two ( supervised only) she flips out. The others would pay less attention to her if she would just act normal. Over all the don't inflict much damage. They just chase her a bit now at this point. The orpington just has to give her a look, and thats usually just around feeders and snack time. The newby knows her place. We have been working on this for about a month. I am sure I've drawn this whole thing out, by continual seperations during the day with short visitations only. But I dont have the heart to just throw her in there and hope for the best. I don't mind the extra work too much. Thanks everyone for all the helpful hints!