hens laying in neighbor's box

[akdunn]

Yea, you might wanna try and out a barrier between the two coops, or even try to make your coop bigger, that’s probably not possible, and I totally understand. Is your neighbor’s coop bigger?

 

[Alyssabham]

We will need dimensions of the coop and run in feet by feet. To have an educated guess if they’ll be aggressive and pick on each other.

Also a picture of the inside of your coop would literally be worth a thousand words. Some bright folks here that can suggest the smallest tweaks that fix issues straight away.

There will be a fix for this.

Here are the photos! Total size of the coop is 2ft deep, 8ft long, 3.5ft tall.

 

[MarkJr]

The pictures look square. Is what is pictured their roost area??
Raise the roost bars 18” from the roof. As high as you can get while still getting a chicken on top.

 

[RainbowHen]

Your coop does not appear to be 2x8. It appears the run (footprint) is 2x8. Coop looks closer to 2x3? I agree. Definitely have to raise the roost bar. Much too low.

 

[Alyssabham]

The pictures look square. Is what is pictured their roost area??
Raise the roost bars 18” from the roof. As high as you can get while still getting a chicken on top.

Yes, the up close picture is the area with the roost bars, then you can see the nesting box towards the back! Sorry this is my first round with chickens so I’m new to the language. We can definitely raise the bars up, the total height of the coop is about 20in, so how far up would you recommend the roosts be?
Also, is the run big enough for them to stay in for a few days to reset without getting aggressive?

 

[MarkJr]

Ok I’m not getting your measurements through my noggin.
Coop is enclosure they sleep in at night. What dimensions is the floor NOT including nest boxes. Height here as well.
The Run is the wire enclosure. If it’s only 2’ across there may be issues getting far enough away from each other to not trigger a butt whipping every time they pass. If you can get better measurements here it would help too. Measure area not including under coop, and then the area under the coop.

It may need some tweaking.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

In short, your coop is too small for four chickens. Your run is too small for 1 chicken. Your roost bar is too narrow. It's not your fault, it's a manufacturer defect. These coops are advertised as being able to house 4-6 (or whatever) birds, but in reality, they need at least 10sqft per bird outside, and 3-4 sqft per bird inside. You can keep your chickens in there, and they'll survive (probably), it's just not an ideal setup. If you have no immediate plans to build a bigger coop, I think your idea (keep them contained to their run for a while) will lessen their options and hopefully trigger them to use their own laying boxes. Good luck with your new flock.

 

[Alyssabham]

Ok I’m not getting your measurements through my noggin.
Coop is enclosure they sleep in at night. What dimensions is the floor NOT including nest boxes. Height here as well.
The Run is the wire enclosure. If it’s only 2’ across there may be issues getting far enough away from each other to not trigger a butt whipping every time they pass. If you can get better measurements here it would help too. Measure area not including under coop, and then the area under the coop.

It may need some tweaking.

So if I’m understanding you correctly, the wire part is the 2x8 — the coop part (the one with the little window), not including the nesting boxes is 26in deep, 30in wide, 21in tall. The nesting box attached to the coop is 26in deep, 14in wide and 12in tall

 

[Alyssabham]

So if I’m understanding you correctly, the wire part is the 2x8 — the coop part (the one with the little window), not including the nesting boxes is 26in deep, 30in wide, 21in tall. The nesting box attached to the coop is 26in deep, 14in wide and 12in tall

They are sleeping in the nesting boxes not on the roosts

 

[RainbowHen]

So if I’m understanding you correctly, the wire part is the 2x8 — the coop part (the one with the little window), not including the nesting boxes is 26in deep, 30in wide, 21in tall. The nesting box attached to the coop is 26in deep, 14in wide and 12in tall

Ok. That makes more sense. While you absolutely can keep them locked up in here for a while to encourage them to lay in their boxes, on the long term you need a much bigger coop. Not your fault. Unfortunately prefab manufacturers greatly exaggerate the amount of hens their coops will house. When you lock them up make sure to give them plenty of stimulation to keep them distracted and happy. You can toss them scratch grains, greens, pelleted feed, etc in the run (fenced area) and coop (wood box) to keep them busy scratching around. Give them some stuff to climb on as well. Definitely raise the roost bar. Even if it is just at the top edge of the nest boxes, that will be sufficient. Best of luck!