Getting frustrated, so time to experiment?

[gritsar]

Recently my egg count went from excellent to next to nothing.
I have a few girls that are obviously molting, mainly my dark brahmas. The others don't look like they are molting and the feathers I am finding everywhere are clearly from my darks.
What's really bothering me is that several girls disappear for awhile each day. I go looking in some pretty thick brush and other hard-to-reach places, only to find the hens back with the flock when I return.

Another thing that's bothering me. Hearing the egg song, loud and clear and usually accompanied by my rooster. Problem is, the egg song is either coming from a location away from the coop (like this morning hearing it on the east side of the house when the coop is to the west of the house) and/or I go to the coop and find no eggs.
First cool day we get - s'pose to be next Tuesday - I'm going to leave the chickens in the coop for most of the day and hope they don't kill each other. They seriously dislike not being able to free range.
So, lock em up and not get eggs and I can assume they are just on a hiatus right?

 

[bkreugar]

Oh Gritstar I am SOOOO with you.I only have 2 of laying age right now.Many will belaying in the next month. My white hen will lay in the coop most of the time My veteran red hen has taken to laying on top of the washing machine under the back porch.We use that one for washing like horse blankets.

Anyway the last month.Sometimes 2 eggs (coop and washing machine.Sometimes just washing machine.And I too let them free range all day.I too am about ready to keep them locked up.I also want EVERYONE to just lay in the coop.I JUST laid new straw in there this week.SO they made nests but NO eggs.
So frustrating!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Actually lockdown is what I would recommend in your situation. The thing is, mine have spent more than a year being very consistent about laying in the coop. This is a new behavior on their part - if in fact they are laying elsewhere and not just on a break like my DH insists.
If mine are laying elsewhere the only thing I can think of that may have caused it was adding fans to the coop that blow over the nestboxes. I know it doesn't bother some of the girls, but maybe it does others.
I'll let you know what I find out.

 

[gritsar]

And an update: I just went out to the coop and not a single egg today. Now I'm getting mad.

 

[100AcreFarm]

Hmmm...if you lived in Michigan I'd ask if you were my next door neighbor. They have 9 hens and we noticed one day that there were 29 eggs laying around in an unused building on our property. No idea how long they'd been there so we threw them out and haven't seen another egg since. We see a hen every day or 2 strutting around and announcing herself in the mornings. I've searched all over but never find eggs. I keep imagining the neighbors wondering why their egg production dropped off for a while! We don't speak the same language so I won't be asking them

I figure that if I'm not finding eggs then they must be getting them in their own yard now.

 

[gritsar]

Well I've looked in every place I can think of, and some I'd rather no go into. Down by the storm cellar is spooky.

If lockdown don't give me results I don't know what to do next.