I am new to chickens, I have raised some babies for a year, but I am having trouble with them laying eggs. They lay for a while then stop. Then when I leave eggs to try and get chicks the eggs disappear? I have a fenced in coop and use the lights that blink at night to scare away critters. I just cant figure out what is getting the eggs?
All kinds of things can eat your chicken eggs, including your own chickens! If you are sure the chickens themselves are not eating them, critters of the day can be eating them....squirrels, dogs, cats, wild birds, snakes, rats, etc...The best thing you can do is keep your birds on a good diet and keep the treats down to a minimum so they get enough protein and calcium. Confine them to the coop and run in the morning when they are most likely to be laying somewhere in the woods in some secret nest, keep all wild critters from entering the coop and run and collect your eggs often. Good luck with those eggs and welcome to BYC!
Hello and Welcome To BYC! A game camera or video can also be helpful with figuring out what is going on.
if you aren't finding any bits of broken shell or yolk etc. I doubt that the hens are eating them. You may have snakes hiding in the coop - people have often mentioned on BYC reaching under a hen to collect eggs and finding a snake under her. The hen doesn't even notice, and the snake keeps nice and warm and well fed.
