Quick question

[tn_artist]

Thanks everyone! I feel better about not getting as many eggs.

 

[slordaz]

Thanks everyone! I feel better about not getting as many eggs.

Remember they like to drive us crazy sometimes, just when we think we got em figured out they do something else lol. They got a weird sense of humor

 

[tn_artist]

Remember they like to drive us crazy sometimes, just when we think we got em figured out they do something else lol. They got a weird sense of humor

They certainly do! Tiny (OEGB) was acting like a kid that had to pee. When I finally opened they door, she took off for the shrubs. A minute later she flew back to the pen area to forage. Went to see what she was up to. Two little eggs under the blueberry bush (under the 'bird proof' meeting too. Little stinker.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Normally they don't molt their first autumn but for those that hatch very early in the year it is possible.
First time laying pullets take a while to get things synced.
They aren't egg laying machines, they're birds that feed us breakfast.
Once their ovulation cycle gets regular, depending on the individual, ovulation will be every 25 hours or much longer. That means that the majority of eggs will be after dawn. Occasionally new layers will drop one from the roost at night.

 

[aart]

They certainly do! Tiny (OEGB) was acting like a kid that had to pee. When I finally opened they door, she took off for the shrubs. A minute later she flew back to the pen area to forage. Went to see what she was up to. Two little eggs under the blueberry bush (under the 'bird proof' meeting too. Little stinker.

There ya go!
Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop for a week or so can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. Fake eggs/golf balls in the nests can help 'show' them were to lay. They can be confined to coop and maybe run 24/7 for a few days to a week, provided you have adequate space and ventilation, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it. ..at least for a good while, then repeat as necessary.

 

[rosemarythyme]

They can lay at night, though that's not the norm. I've had hens miss getting up on the roosts in time because they were laying on the late side, and of course with young layers, you may have an occasional egg drop from the roost bar as their system figures things out.

 

[tn_artist]

5 from the small pen and 1EE egg from the larger pen, that we suspect is having a egg thief/visitor nightly.

 

[aart]

5 from the small pen and 1EE egg from the larger pen, that we suspect is having a egg thief/visitor nightly.

Don't you gather all eggs at the end of the day?
But you think that they are laying at night and something is stealing them?

 

[tn_artist]

I have started checking in the morning, when I get home from work and when I closed them up, if they were out. I also sit in the yard with them most evenings watching chicken television. Today there was only the EE egg and the pullet who was sitting on 7 eggs, now has six. The EE laid her egg in the broody girls nest. The pen that would be easier to get in had 5 eggs when I got home. Do you think it could be a daytime pest?
Also, the pullet that laid two eggs under the Blueberry bush now has none.

 

[aart]

Sounds hard to keep track of...all my birds are confined to one coop and two runs.

the pullet who was sitting on 7 eggs, now has six. The EE laid her egg in the broody girls nest

The 7 broody eggs were clearly marked...so you knew there was an addition(the EE) and a subtraction( a missing marked egg)?

Also, the pullet that laid two eggs under the Blueberry bush now has none.

So you had left eggs under the bush, for how long, was a broody sitting on them? Is this bush outside secure fencing?

Do you think it could be a daytime pest?

If eggs are truly missing, I would suspect a snake.