Disappearing eggs

[monsoon27]

My hens (8 laying and 5 soon to be) appear to be laying a total of only 2-3 eggs a day. One day I went to let them out to range and saw an egg in the coop. When I came back later in the day, the egg was gone. They used to produce much more so I'm thinking something is sneaking into the coop during the day when there's access and stealing eggs. Something small that doesn't hurt the chickens. Any thoughts? I don't want to have to chicken wire their entire run or lock them out of the coop during the day. Thanks.

 

[jwchicklady]

a snake could be doing that

 

[kuntrygirl]

My disappearing eggs was because of the 5ft snake that I killed last week that was sitting on top of the nesting boxes. Egg production is back up now.

 

[chookchick]

Make sure you don't have egg-eating hens. Look closely for any signs of egg on their faces, checking out nests during the day even though they are not laying, pieces of shell, etc... Try to pick a day when you can check on them many times during the day, to figure out what is going on. Could they also be laying somewhere in the yard? Watch them closely.