We have a 16 month-old barnyard mutt who started laying last November. Up until a week ago, she always laid her eggs in one of the nest boxes. After taking a week off, she laid an egg on the floor of the coop and then the last 4 have been laid on the ground in the run. This morning I decided to stalk the coop to see if I could figure it out. I was really encouraged when she was in the nest box with an egg that had been laid earlier by someone else. I checked again about 1/2 hour later, and she and her egg were down on the ground! We have 5 chickens (3 16-month-olds and 2 5-month-olds who are close but not laying yet) in a 150+ sq ft enclosure with an elevated 4x4x4 coop with 2 nest boxes built out from the side of the coop. The other two layers use both nest boxes and one of the younger girls spends time each day in both of them, so I really don't think there is a problem with the nest boxes. I am at a total loss as to what is going on with her and would welcome any suggestions and/or advice. Thanks
