Chicken coop

[Zapp Brannigan]

What purpose does it serve in-game? I assumed the ckickens would lay their eggs in it so I didn't need to hunt for them, but that doesn't seem tobe the case. Should you lock them in the coop at night?

[moorwiesen]

My chickens lay eggs between 14 and 17. (around 16 most of them).
I lock them in the coop at 14, they use the straw filled areas for their eggs then. I can also steal them without gettings chased down the farm, when I can just keep the doors to the coop shut. But after egg-stealing and cleaning I open again until next day.

[Zapp Brannigan]

That's a good tip! Thank you.

[Dennis]

Except for aesthetics, is there a good reason to just not keep them in the coop?

I dislike wasting space in my Granary/Water areas. And needing to herd 15 odd chickens into each coop daily sounds painful to this lazy butt lol.

I just use the two level coop and put a food/water on the bottom level. It's also the best for collecting eggs imo. I HATE the one with those darn sliding trays. Until I can lock them open - they frustrate me greatly. The 2 level coop has the nice eye level shelf so 1/2 the eggs practically jump in the basket themselves as you just scroll along.

Plus I like how the back doors sweep leakers back into the coop when you close them after checking baskets for chicks.

Personally, I'd rather keep a few less hens in each coop and just build an extra coop. The time I spent hunting Jumping Beans for the metal is far less than herding the chickens a few times.

On an opposing note - Currently running an experiment to see just how big a Chicken Farm I can create (and test lag chickens vs pigs) . Surrounded a Granary/Water green zone with fencing. Placed numerous troughs and bowls and a dozen Hens/Roosters. Going to see how full it will get before the silo can't keep up.