Advice needed

[lindsay750]

I have 14 chickens, different hybrid breeds, they free range from 7am - they go to bed. They are shut in a run from bed till 7am due to foxes. They get good quality feed, crumble and pellets, in the evening they get sunflower seeds, meal worms and corn (not loads) I know 2 are older and probably don't lay. But the others all should be laying! But I'm getting about 4eggs a day! Their house is treAted for red mites, as are they every 6weeks. They've been wormed. Any ideas?!?!

 

[sjturner79]

Many breeds don't lay daily. It is possible that each hen is laying 1 every 3 days. The only way to really work out what is happening is to separate out to find out which ones are laying and how often, then you can individually look at why each of the others is not.

 

[TLHatton]

Also, if they freerange during the day, they could have found a really nice place to lay that you don't know about. Do you hear the egg song while they are free ranging?

 

[Ridgerunner]

There are a lot of reasons they may not be laying much but if you are north of the equator you should be getting a lot more eggs than that. If you are south of the equator they are probably molting. Breed could have something to do with it. I assume a lot of them are not broody?

I don’t know how old they are. If they were pullets that started laying last fall and laid throughout the winter, whether you added lights or not, they may have laid so much they have burned out and are taking a break before they resume laying. Hens normally lay pretty well for a little over a year but then they need to take a break. What has been their laying history?

The most common cause of you not getting the eggs is that they are hiding a nest on you. That can happen even if they are confined to a coop and run, let alone free ranging. They can be really good at hiding a nest.

It’s possible something is getting the eggs. Many critters like skunks, possums, and raccoons generally leave evidence behind. If the chickens themselves are eating the eggs there is usually some evidence, either egg shells or a soggy mess in the nest. So look in the nesting material, including down in it, to see if you can find any evidence.

Some things don’t leave any evidence though. A snake swallows the eggs whole, usually two to four at a time depending in the size of the snake, and goes away for two or three days to digest them before it returns. If you have a huge drop in production every few days a snake is the likely culprit. If the production is steady every day, it is probably not a snake.

Canines will take the eggs whole and leave no evidence, but if it is a fox or coyote they are probably going to be more interested in your chickens. You can’t totally rule them out but I’d think not likely. A dog will sometimes eat eggs and not bother the chickens. That could be a feral dog, a neighbor’s dog, or even you own pet.

A human will take eggs and leave no evidence. I think that possibility is even creepier than a snake.

What can you do to figure it out? One possibility is to mark some eggs and leave them down there. If they disappear something is getting them.

If you can confine them to the coop or coop and run. If your egg production goes up, they are either hiding a nest on you or you have locked out whatever is getting the eggs. It could be either but at least you know they are laying.

Good luck in figuring this out. It can be a challenge.

 

[lindsay750]

I'm in England, so no risk of some of those animals! They're not egg eating, I've checked, and I've looked everywhere for eggs, can't find any. Is there anything else that anyone can think of? Thanks for advice so far.