When I check the eggs mid-morning or early afternoon (such as on weekends, when I am home at that time) I generally get 3 eggs- one for each hen currently laying. I know who lays what, because the buff lays a pink egg then the barred rocks lay tan eggs.
When I go to work early, I often have an early egg from the buff. She's my early morning layer. It's pretty predictable. If I am not able to check for eggs until I put them away in the evening, I generally don't find any. A couple of times I have had 0 or 1 egg for the whole day, and the one egg looks pushed off to one side like it has been moved. No evidence of shells or broken eggs around nests.
My chickens aren't stuck in the coop- they have free access to the open coop and run, as well as the whole yard and garden. Nothing has harmed them. I have looked in all usual places- no weird hidden nests or anything. And why would they lay in the boxes on the weekends but not during the week?
Today, I locked the girls in all day. I had 3 eggs in the evening.
Yard surrounded by a 5 foot tall solid brick fence. Neighbors on one side, public park on the other. On the edge of town, in agricultural area. Warm temps these days, and dry about 6 days a week. What type of animal would steal eggs but not hurt chickens? They would have to be moving the eggs out of a coop which is 4 ft off the ground and accessed by a ramp. I have two dogs, and it is not them. They are in the house all day.
I know there are rodents in the compost pile.
Please help.
When I go to work early, I often have an early egg from the buff. She's my early morning layer. It's pretty predictable. If I am not able to check for eggs until I put them away in the evening, I generally don't find any. A couple of times I have had 0 or 1 egg for the whole day, and the one egg looks pushed off to one side like it has been moved. No evidence of shells or broken eggs around nests.
My chickens aren't stuck in the coop- they have free access to the open coop and run, as well as the whole yard and garden. Nothing has harmed them. I have looked in all usual places- no weird hidden nests or anything. And why would they lay in the boxes on the weekends but not during the week?
Today, I locked the girls in all day. I had 3 eggs in the evening.
Yard surrounded by a 5 foot tall solid brick fence. Neighbors on one side, public park on the other. On the edge of town, in agricultural area. Warm temps these days, and dry about 6 days a week. What type of animal would steal eggs but not hurt chickens? They would have to be moving the eggs out of a coop which is 4 ft off the ground and accessed by a ramp. I have two dogs, and it is not them. They are in the house all day.
I know there are rodents in the compost pile.
Please help.
