diet change and egglaying

[swift4me]

My hens live in a sufficiently sized coop and run on weekends when I come back to town, and eat a mix of corn, wheat, oats, layer pellets and lentils. During the week, they have all that plus have an excellent free range opportunity all day long, with manure piles, huge pasture and forested area.

When I go to the farm on Monday morning, I'll find regular numbers of eggs, (mostly bantams at the moment), but during three or four days of free ranging, they won't lay an egg. I'm fairly certain they are not laying outside of the coop, but I know that is a possibility.

Can a diet change like this throw them off?

Thanks,

Pete

 

[CMV]

I suspect they are laying outside. I haven't known dietary changes to throw them off like that. You better get ready for an egg hunt.

Good luck.

 

[swift4me]

I'll get on the egg hunt. It's funny that the banty hens are the biggest rangers in the group. They'll go anywhere, and my rooster has to keep up sometimes. I know their spots, but I'll take a closer look.

Pete

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
Change of diet can throw them off, even chage of water source, however the frequency of change in your case would not affect them that way. I agree they have one or more hidden nests..........Pop

 

[Lisa202]

Oh no....I just started letting mine out to freerange and I've noticed a drop in eggs. There is no way I can find eggs outside b/c I have a large ivy covered hill that they just love to scratch in for hours. I would never find anything in there...even a chicken.

Should I keep them in the coop/run up until a certain time to make sure all eggs are laid?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I strongly suspect that they are hiding a nest from you, but there is also the possibility that something, like a dog, is eating the eggs since they have access when the hens are free ranging.

Locking them in the run and coop until you think all eggs have been laid is a good way to approach this. When I find one laying outside the coop I lock them all in the coop and run for several days to break them of the habit of laying in the other nest. Sometimes this works and sometimes I have to do it a few times for a week at a time. It really does help if you can find the other nest and remove the eggs.

Sometimes when I lock them up, I see a hen anxiously pacing the fence, obviously wanting to get out to lay. They are hiding that nest from you and don't want you to know where it is, but sometimes, especially if they don't see you watching, you can get a clue as to where the nest might be by letting her out.

Good luck! This one can be solved, but not always easy.

 

[hannakat]

Mine decrease laying after getting to range after a bout of being 'indoors' and I've always suspected dietary change/exercise to the cause. Egg laying resumes quickly enough that I'm sure they just stop and are not laying somewhere in the woods!!! ***whew***

 

[swift4me]

It's funny, last week I came back to the farm after 4 days away in Spain, and I found 9 or 10 eggs in one box and three in the other, but one of my banty hens was sitting on the larger group of eggs, and they were all warm and the same temp when she left. Maybe she is broody, and maybe she is the one laying outside.

I'll look on Monday morning.

Thanks,

Pete

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
Pete, if you suspect a broody, check at night to see if she is on the nest. A broody will stay on the nest almost all the time and not roost like the other birds..........Pop

 

[swift4me]

Here's an update.

I got to the farm on Monday morning, after them being in the closed run/coop since Friday noon, and there were other eggs, but not a single from the two Banty hens, which used to lay one each day.

On Tuesday, I got one Banty egg, and another on Thursday, but something is definitely up with them.

Thanks for any hypothesis.

Pete