They were in the little coop for a long time. You will have to physically move them into the big one every night for a week or more until they get the hang of it.
If she is laying every day the feathers are probably a mite issue so hopefully someone can help advise on that. I know mites are easier to see at night when the chickens are roosting—if you go out to the coop with a flashlight you should be able to see them moving because they feed at night.
Removing the bullied hen will only make things worse because when she returns she will be at the bottom of the pecking order. Better to remove the bully.
Since you are seeing this problem repeatedly I would think it was more an environmental problem than an individual chicken problem. They...
That’s great! Yeah we never cuddled our roosters. A rooster has a job to do and if he can do it without trying to boss humans around then he is golden.
We had another rooster that was the worst kind. I had to carry a pitchfork into the run to get eggs. Even then, the second I put it down he...
Most of mine that age are molting. They don’t look as rough as my older hens but I can see their feathers lying around so I know it’s happening. Not only can a molt stop egg laying but as days get shorter they will lay less or not at all. Her comb is still red so it’s also possible she has a...
I’m sure it won’t all be sunshine and rainbows. I had a daytime free range flock in the city for a few years and I did have a hen build a clutch under a plant in the garden (I can’t remember what the plant was but it had big enough leaves she managed to squirrel away a couple dozen eggs). By the...
My mom seems to think the turkeys hang near her chickens more for protection from hunters than predators. She does have two dogs but they’re inside usually so by the time they get to a predator it is already too close to the house for comfort. But the turkeys also come and go seasonally...
The other chickens lay in the coop and the barn in an old feed trough. I am not getting many eggs because of molting and the time of year but I get enough to feed my family so I’m happy with that.
Because she was locked in the coop for a few weeks when I got her I can tell her egg from others (also because only two of my four games are laying) so I do get the occasional egg from her. She sneaks back to the coop to eat and lay an egg then she disappears again.