One lonely hen?

[kyleen]

3 of my 4 chickens go into the hen house at dusk. One lonely hen (?) stays out and roosts on my grapevine trellis. She is also the only Hen that hasn't started laying. They are all almost 6 months. Occasionally the other Easter egger will also stay out of the coop and roost even higher up on the trellis. The two hens that routinely tuck themselves to bed are the Plymouth Rock and Rhode Island Red. What do you think is going on?

 

[Pork Pie]

Bullying maybe? Chickens require at least 1sqft of roost space per bird, but the more space they have, the more happier your birds will be. She may pluck up the courage to use the coop, once she begins to lay - i couldn't really say.

 

[aart]

How big is your coop...in feet by feet?
Also how well is your coop ventilated? Might be hot and stuffy in there.
1 foot of roost length per bird is a good 'rule of thumb'.
They sleep on less roost length, but need some extra room to get settled,
the 'Roost Time Rumble' can get chaotic no matter their age.

They also may be favoring the outside roost if it is higher than the inside roost.

They can get pretty riled up around onset of lay as hormone escalate, pecking orders can change, and so things may calm back down after they are all laying and some time has passed.