Where are my eggs?

[HollyTree]

I bought 4 hens on 7/19 that are supposed to be already laying. They are in the hen house and seem to be very happy. I am feeding them laying pellets. I figured there would be a little "down time" for adjustment to a new home & space. But.....how long should be expected? I thought I'd have a couple eggs by now.

 

[jessica117]

What kind of daytime temps are you getting? When it gets above about 95 for any length of time I tend to stop getting eggs. There is also a slim chance something could be getting your eggs. We had a 5 ft chicken snake that seemed to be partial to blue eggs. After getting rid of him all the sudden my EE was laying MUCH more consistently.

Also, do your hens free range or are they in a coop/run set up all the time. You could have 4 dozen eggs carefully hidden under your porch

(edit) re-read... I see that you do have them in a coop...

 

[HollyTree]

Temp has been in upper 70's to upper 80's. It's been down to 68 sometimes at night. You're right about the snake. I just killed a 4 ft black snake that ate one of my baby chicks this weekend. Maybe they have laid a couple of eggs and the snake has been there before...hmm. I assumed that was the first time he had been there. Well, I got him! He couldn't get back thru the fence with his fat tum. Check out the snake trap under predators if you haven't, wow.

 

[warmfuzzies]

Moving them can send them into a molt if they are already laying. Which means it would be about 6-8 weeks before they start laying again. I think you could check their flight feathers and se if any are missing, or you could also check their vent color and see if they are yellow or whitish. Yellow means they arent laying.

I can get out my book and read more about the bleaching process if you are interested. They bleach certain areas in a certain order when they stop laying.