The free range anywhere they want all day long. Our neighbors all have grasshoppers devestating their crops and I haven't seen a grasshopper all year so I think the bugs are a source of protein. I just got a beand new non-GMO organic layer feed and will add that as well. I just wonder if there's something else.
I don't think its a feed issue, you are giving them ample to eat, especially with the free-ranging!
I am still going with concealed nest (maybe on your neighbor's property). They may not know where their nest box is if you have never gotten an egg from them so they are going to the safest place they know. Points to ponder: Have you ever seen them go to the nest box and seen them sit there? Have you ever heard the egg-song coming from your property or the free-range area? If you don't know what it sounds like then you can porobably pull up one off the web and give a listen. Another point to consider is they may be laying but a predator ( this includes, wild, domestic, guineas, chickens and humans) is finding the eggs and eating the eggs overnight so you don't see them when you look. Look for a nest-like place with no eggs.
So here is what I would do:
-Place dummy eggs in the next box/es that you want them to use
-Keep them confined for several days with access to those boxes. They will be grumpy and a noisy rabble waiting to get out because thats what they are used to. You really need to determine if any eggs are being laid and to also get them retrained. Its only temporary.
-If the above two do not yield eggs, replace the dummy eggs in the nest with store-bought eggs. After 24 hours are they still there? If not you have an egg eater/eaters that are eating the eggs as they are laid. You will need to identify the culprit and remove them from the flock.
-Do several very, very careful search for the nest/nests. There was one person I remember reading about that had a bunch of free-range hens and their eggs dried up over time. They had done searches and found nothing. The last search revealed hundreds of eggs on a derelict truck's cab floorboards. They had gotten in through a cracked window and that became their repository. I had walked by the red-wagon nest many times and did not see it--I only found it because a hen went missing for two days and I needed to try to find her body so my daughter could have closure and after all that grief she had gone broody and was sitting on the clutch of 16 eggs. Under the wagon. So not only had I missed the nest but I had missed the broody on the nest for two day and countless passes.
Good Luck!
