she laid an egg

In this case, that's a good thing. Ladybug laid an egg today, which means she is okey-dokey. Unfortunately, she's been away from the flock so long we can't just put her back. No one will recognize her and will likely reject her, so the advice to us has been to slip her in after dark. I guess if the others don't see her arrive then she must have always been there. Seems chickens aren't too smart.