A chicken's first night decides where she believes home is, and chickens are creatures of fierce routine, so the goal of that first evening is simple: the new bird should go to sleep inside her coop, wake inside it, and repeat that pattern until returning at dusk becomes automatic. Everything you do on night one, from the timing of the journey home to how often you peek in, either builds that association or undermines it.
Settle her into the coop before dark
Bring the new chicken home with enough daylight left to place her directly into the prepared coop rather than letting her wander the run loose. A hen placed on the roost or on the coop floor at dusk is naturally drowsy and stays put, while one released in the morning may choose a fence corner or shrub as her bedroom and fight you for it for a week. Check the practical details before she arrives: fresh bedding, a filled drinker at a height she can reach, feed in its permanent spot, nest boxes closed off if she is a young pullet who might sleep in them and foul them, and every gap a predator or an escaping hen could use already blocked. If she joins an existing flock, a large crate or fenced section inside the coop lets everyone see and hear each other overnight without a roost-time fight.
Keep the first night quiet and undisturbed
Once the door is shut, leave her alone. New keepers understandably want to check, but each visit with a bright light resets a frightened bird's attempt to settle and teaches her the coop is a place of unpredictable disturbance. Listen from outside if you need reassurance; a quiet coop is a content one, and brief settling clucks are normal. Keep dogs and children away from the run that evening, and lock the coop fully even if your garden feels safe, because the first night is exactly when a stressed bird pushes at doors and a predator tests a new scent. If the weather turns rough, trust a dry, ventilated coop over bringing her indoors, which would restart the home-learning process tomorrow.
The first morning and the days after
Open up at your normal time and let her come out in her own time, even if she lingers inside for an hour watching the doorway. Scatter a little feed near the coop entrance so her first exploration starts beside home, and keep her in the run rather than free-ranging for the first several days, however tame she seems. Watch that she finds the drinker and eats; a bird that has not drunk by the second morning needs the water point shown to her by dipping her beak tip gently as you set her beside it. With an existing flock, expect the integration to play out at feeders and the roost across the first week, and keep the separate sleeping section until she roosts without being driven off.
Settling young birds and older hens differently
A point-of-lay pullet's first night is mainly about routine, while a mature hen moved from another flock may arrive with strong habits and a rank to renegotiate, so she benefits from a day shut in the coop and run to map her new territory before ranging. A broody hen should not be moved at night onto a new nest unless you intend her to sit there, since most will abandon moved eggs. Whatever her age, note how night one went while it is fresh, because the pattern of the first three nights predicts how quickly she will home reliably at dusk. KinsLe Family Sharing keeps that first-night record on her shared profile, so the whole household follows the same settling plan instead of each person improvising.