Hiding eggs, or production down?

[Jim 13160]

I'm still new and learning. I have a small 7 month old flock of 8 hens, and a rooster, a mix of Production Reds, and Barred Rocks. I built them , what I thought was a spacious 16' x 40', predator-resistant pasture. With concerns of coyotes, fox, and hawks, I decided to try letting them outside the pasture, only while I was home. This graduated to letting them out in the morning before I left for work, and locking them in after they came back to the coop to roost. When I had them confined to the pasture, or out for just a few hours in the afternoon, I was consistently getting 8 eggs per day, with an occasional 7 egg day. Now that they are roaming free all day every day, I am only seeing 6 per day, as low as 5, and 7 this morning. I'm wondering if the is a drop in production, due to change in activity, or if there's a couple hiding their eggs on me. It's only been 8 days so far.

 

[Toothpick]

It’s possible they are laying elsewhere but in my experience they will usually go back to the same spot every day to lay. You could also have a chicken eating the eggs. Mine are in the coop/run all day and egg production dropped from 13-15 down to 9-10. Never saw any cracked shells, or egg yolks/white. Basically just assumed some stopped laying. Well one day I saw one eating an egg. So I fixed the problem and we are just about normal again.

So don’t assume they have stopped laying or are hiding them. They might be eating them too.

 

[Crazy Texas Chicken Lady]

I have one Broody Hen who is sitting a nest of 6 eggs since Monday I have a total of 10 hens. I have been getting a consistent 9-10 eggs a day but since she has been sitting the nest I now get 4-5 eggs a day could it be because of my Broody Hen? I have 6 nesting boxes in my coop and my Broody Hen is sitting in the favorite box so could this cause my other hens not to lay?

 

[GardenJen77]

I'm still new and learning. I have a small 7 month old flock of 8 hens, and a rooster, a mix of Production Reds, and Barred Rocks. I built them , what I thought was a spacious 16' x 40', predator-resistant pasture. With concerns of coyotes, fox, and hawks, I decided to try letting them outside the pasture, only while I was home. This graduated to letting them out in the morning before I left for work, and locking them in after they came back to the coop to roost. When I had them confined to the pasture, or out for just a few hours in the afternoon, I was consistently getting 8 eggs per day, with an occasional 7 egg day. Now that they are roaming free all day every day, I am only seeing 6 per day, as low as 5, and 7 this morning. I'm wondering if the is a drop in production, due to change in activity, or if there's a couple hiding their eggs on me. It's only been 8 days so far.

I had this very same question with my girls!!! I ended up locking them back in the run until I could figure out the answer.

 

[Jim 13160]

I had this very same question with my girls!!! I ended up locking them back in the run until I could figure out the answer.

They went back to normal, though one went broody on me, so she was out of production. I'm guessing the change threw them off for a bit.