if I don't get eggs every day does that mean something's wrong with my hens?

[jsmith2952]

@sbhkma- glad to hear I'm not the only one with goofy looking chickens.! As for the water situation--I'm not sure what the deal is with their preference. I would agree with you though that once they're out and about they don't want to return to their coop...I just think they don't drink as much as they should (according to the stats I read anyway) which made me question if there was something about their water they didn't love and were so desperate to avoid it that they chose to drink stinky rainwater from weird receptacles my daughter leaves around the yard. But they're producing and funny and, according to my egg farmer friend the healthiest looking chickens he's ever seen (I'll take that as a compliment, thankyouverymuch!). I'm probably over-analyzing this, but with so much info around, it makes me feel a bit overwhelmed that i'm not giving them the best or doing the right thing.

@gryeyes--thanks for the info. I can't tell if they're molting, although I'm imagining I'll definitely know what with all the feathers lying around and whatnot. I used to be able the tell the girls apart, but now they all look pretty much the same feather-wise. Maybe they moulted when I wasn't looking