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I have a full coop (four chickens). They produced eggs almost every day in the winter and early spring but now they seem to be making them only once every few days and sometimes not even all of them. I have only gotten a large Egg once.

My coop has four bails of hay on the trough and 45 spots inside of a hardwood fence with about half of that filled with grass (they have stopped eating the hay.) There is no heater and it is the 24th day of spring. I try and pet them every day. There is a Bee hive inside of this space but it has been there for a while. Two chickens have 2 hearts and 2 have 3+ hearts.

It's possible that I am just unlucky but what are things that specifically make chickens uphappy that I should look out for?

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Firstly, this is how egglaying works, from what I've read on the internet and my own experience in game.

Chickens will usually lay one egg every day, but will sometimes not. I have had three chickens for more than an ingame year, and finding only two eggs in the morning is rare, but not impossible. Ducks, on the other hand, will usually lay one egg every two days. Getting large eggs is affected by the animal's friendship, but it's possible at any level.

Chickens' friendship will, like NPCs', increase slightly every day you pet them, and decrease by a very small amount every day you do not pet them. If the chickens do not have access to any food (grass or hay), their friendship will decrease every day. In the winter, their friendship will decrease slightly every day if there is not a heater in their coop.

However, there is one other factor that does not seem to be related to happiness, but has a big impact on whether they will lay eggs or not. Leaving the coop door open seems to have a large chance to cause chickens not to lay eggs, as I've found my coop (10 animals) with absolutely no items in the morning after a night with the door open, but this does not happen every day.

What happens when you pet them? Do they react positively (heart) or negatively (grumble icon)?

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    They react positively. I do leave the door open all of the time. Including rainy days. It could just be RNG. It's just weird that it was literally every day and now it isn't.
    – Reafexus
    Apr 3, 2016 at 14:15
  • @Reafexus I noticed a change when leaving the door open, both with coops and barns. I'd say start closing the door at night and see if your situation improves at all.
    – Wrigglenite
    Apr 3, 2016 at 14:23
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    It could be that the chickens are laying the eggs outside possibly?
    – JoshuaCody
    Apr 3, 2016 at 18:25
  • @Winter Even if you leave the door open, that's impossible. Chickens will always lay eggs inside the coop.
    – Wrigglenite
    Apr 3, 2016 at 18:26
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    @BlueRaja-DannyPflughoeft That is incorrect. I leave my coop door open every day except when it rains or in the winter. After 1 year of owning chickens they have always returned to the coop at night and laid the eggs indoors.
    – Tofystedeth
    Apr 6, 2016 at 20:00

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