egg production..

[itsbob]

In Southern MD so it's still pretty warm here.. mid to upper 70s in the day.

I have 12 layers but we are only getting 4 eggs a day. Thought maybe they were laying in the woods, we let them roam during the day, so we started locking them in the run until we get home at 5 PM, and back I to the run at dark. Still only 4 eggs a day.

I set up a nest at the base of a tree and put two eggs in it to see if they would lay there and that evening no eggs. Those two were gone with absolutely no remnants..

Hints? Clues?

 

[Wyandottes7]

Daylight hours are decreasing over the United States. Hens need fourteen or more hours of light daily to lay eggs well. If it drops below that, you'll see a decrease in egg production.

Are any of your birds missing any feathers? Fall is a time when many birds molt. Chickens molt for their first time when they are about a year old, and molt every year thereafter, usually in the fall. Chickens do not usually lay when they are molting.

If eggs have disappeared and you can't figure out why, I think that the hens could be eating their eggs. This would explain why you aren't getting very many, as they eat them before you get to the eggs. Its also possible that something else, like a snake, is stealing eggs.