Less eggs than I expected

[allenw]

Are these new to you chickens or have you had them for a time?

The days getting shorter will slow egg production down.

My experience with Isa Browns are they lay great for one laying cycle and then aren't very good layers after that.

 

[JLoose]

I had the same problem. I was also feeding them scratch and meal worms. I pulled the treats and noticed a difference.

Do they lay less if you give them scratch and mealworms?

 

[Katsynova]

How many eggs would you expect from 25 chickens? I am getting 6-7 and I expected way more.

20 to 25, most lay daily, some breeds less. Are you sure they are hens? Could a small preditor i.e weasel etc be getting to your eggs. A human egg thief? I have 7 hens 2 years old and I get 5 to 7 eggs a day.

 

[HenryNHenrietta]

Maybe your hens are eating the eggs? I had a similar problem( we have 18 Golden Comets and were expecting close to a dozen a day but were only getting 2-4 eggs a day) we had to gather eggs multiple times through out the day before they stopped eating them… they’ll still eat the eggs if we leave the eggs for too long

 

[Happy hen lover]

Maybe your hens are eating the eggs? I had a similar problem( we have 18 Golden Comets and were expecting close to a dozen a day but were only getting 2-4 eggs a day) we had to gather eggs multiple times through out the day before they stopped eating them… they’ll still eat the eggs if we leave the eggs for too long

Maybe a chicken and dumpling recipe explanation is in order! Lol

 

[dovecanyon]

You are doing fine- 16% layer feed is fine, frequent small treats of scratch or mealworms or kitchen scraps is fine, 2 roosters for 25 hens is fine. You have checked the ladies and their home for mites and I trust that you don't have a mite problem so that is fine. I also trust that your girls look healthy and happy, walking around, scratching and pecking, and acting like chickens, not sickly and lethargic.

I don't care if the days are getting shorter, or if they might be getting ready to molt, or if you are having an especially warm summer - 25 healthy, 1-2 year old hens should be giving you more than 6-7 eggs, a lot more, especially given your breed selection.

So I believe one of only two things must be happening - either they have found a hidden place to lay their eggs that you have not discovered yet, or something/someone is stealing your eggs. I doubt it is a hidden nest because the hundreds of eggs that would have built up over a relatively short time would be hard to miss in an enclosed coop/run so that leaves a sneaky thief. Are you able to set up a camera to catch the dastardly villain?