[louiseb22]

Lucy is being pecked at a lot and it drew blood but now use anti peck spray.
ive noticed she sleeps in the nest box rather than a perch

is this a problem and if so what shall i do?

[evie2]

Our Bunty did that because she was being bullied, she ended up with an infection so it's best if you can get her perching, this may mean putting another perch in and putting her on it until she gets the hang of it also blocking off the nest box could help

[louiseb22]

oh no really!
she starts off on the perch as she goes to bed first but then by the time the others go in she ends up in the nest box. at one point Gracie the light sussex ended up in there with her. its a 6-8 bird coop and we have 6 so i dont think its too small.
will try putting her on the perch tomorrow, thanks for the advice. x

[themagicaltoad1]

It won't do her any harm sleeping in the nest box but you'll need to poo pick it each morning. I had a battle of wills with mine for a long time. I'm sure they thought it was a game. I'd take them out of the box and put them on a perch, then as soon as I'd shut the door they'd get off the perch and go back in the box. We'd go through this several times each night until in the end I left them to it. After a few weeks I noticed they were perching by themselves.

[evie2]

Hope it goes all right for you, I've had to move Bunty because the others wouldn't let her out  of the coop at all and if she did get out they pecked her mercilessly.  Chickens can be brutal  

[SkyeBleu]

I have an 8 year old chicken that sleeps in a nest box every night.  She's got a bum foot for years now and I think it's hard for her to perch. I've also had others do the same when they get picked on. In additon, I have other chickens who just hang out there to be "alone".  I have not found anti-peck sprays to be effective at all, except for maybe Bitter Apple Spray. I have found Blue Kote great for the wounds though, they leave that alone it seems. 

I use a kitty litter scoop to scoop the poop out and I dust the boxes with Sevin.  Good luck with your chicken....

[alancane]

If I go and see my girls an hour after they have taken themselves to bed, all three will be in one nestbox and I have to push them onto perch.
8 weeks later and I am still having to do it, but the difference now is that they hear me coming and by the time I open the nestbox up they are just moving onto the perch, moaning as they do it.

[rachelr]

Dont ya just love contrary chicks. Mine decided to have a sit out cos I painted the coop with anti mite stuff and also the new chicks with purple spray. Bless em all hudled in a corner in the garden.

[louiseb22]

thanks for all the advice...its put my mind at rest!
at the moment i clean the poo out of the coop (and now the nest box!) every day...but prob wont be able to do the whole coop every day when they move to the allotment , but hopefully things will be more settled by then.