- May 19, 2013
- 12
- 0
- 22
I have just joined BYC, however, I have explored it a little now and then. I have had laying hens for about a year and a half. I have 9 hens, and recently, all the ones that have been my best layers, have stopped laying. I used to get big brown eggs daily, and now the only ones I'm getting are little eggs from the younger ones, and my 2 Ameraucana hens are laying. They are locked in a coop at night, and roam free on about an acre (with lots of trees and other cover) during the day. At one point, I found they had 3 secret nests with 36 eggs! I didn't know how long they had been laying and, at the time, I didn't know how to tell which ones were old, so I threw them all out, and put some fake eggs in the nest boxes. We have also had a history of rat snakes, but since the snakes have eaten about 6 plastic and wood eggs, I haven't seen any. I have gone over our whole property like a "minesweeper" several times, looking under EVERY bush or whatever, and can't find any eggs. Do hens stop laying eggs after only 2 years? That is how old my older ones are, but I didn't think they would be done laying that quick. I have locked them in the coop and pen area and not let them out at all for 36 hours, and am still not getting the larger eggs. The snakes, I believe, live under the coop, but I can't see under there. It would have to be dug out. But I don't think it's the snakes, because why would they only eat the larger eggs, and not the blue ones? I go out and check several times a day, just in case something might be getting them. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? We live in South Central Texas, and I know they laid a lot less eggs last summer when it was really hot, but we have had a very mild spring and it's only gotten hot in the last couple of weeks.
