Why did my chickens start laying in weird places??

[Sarah97]

Hi All! I have 3 7-month old Red Stars who have been laying fabulously since August. Right from the start, they each laid one perfect egg per day in our nesting box that's lined with clean pine shavings. All of a sudden this week, at least one of them has started laying her egg either on the floor of the run or outside their run in the yard (I let them out to run around each morning). Any ideas about what has brought about this behavior change? And what do I do about it?

 

[Tanichca]

First of all,

Second, that's odd, but not unheard of. Maybe put a dummy egg in the nest box, to show them that that's where eggs belong?

 

[SunkenRoadFarms]

Not uncommon or anything to worry about. This morning i caught two leghorns in the same box, I have no idea how they fit. But it's all because they all have to use the same box despite having 8 others, which often leads to an egg on the coop floor or in the run.

 

[Sarah97]

Thanks for your replies guys! It's disconcerting when everything's going all perfectly and they're easy to manage and all of a sudden something changes--throws a rookie like me off a little!