Strange going on with my chickens egglaying

[claireree]

I have 7 healthy chickens which all lay usually upto 6 eggs a day but recently the laying has dropped down to sometimes 2, today I went to check the nest and there was 1 egg to the right of the nest (which is a old rabbit hutch they like) I left it but now I have checked again and the egg has gone but there was 5 eggs to the left, my question is would the chickens have moved the egg or do you think someone maybe going in and taking my eggs..

 

[FireTigeris]

they may be laying in the wrong place-

they can move eggs if someone is broody.

squirrels can eat chicken eggs...

 

[claireree]

I live in Spain so no chance of squirrels, I have put a camera in there as well so now can watch they are upto also good so i can tell which one is laying.

 

[peepmommy]

check for hidden nests!

 

[claireree]

no hidden nests I ave searched their pen everywhere and it doesnt have many hiding places, I am wondering if a new neighbour we have maybe helping himself which is another reason I put a camera in, it just seems strange how you can have 7 eggs one day next day 2 then down to 4 then back up to 6 or 5 just doesnt add up and they are all usually very good layers and get top quality food too

 

[FireTigeris]

They might have just all taken a break at the same time.

 

[ella]

They are not machines. Bad weather, etc... can effect them.

Just do a general heath check. Make sure their crops are full at night, no has has abnormal poo, or mites or lice.

Even young healthy hens will not lay every day/every other day for months on end. They do take breaks.

 

[Back on the Farm]

Mine bury their eggs deep into the nest. When it looks like I didn't get many eggs, I have to dig deep into the nest to find the rest of the eggs. Even then I miss some. I will find the ones I missed when I clean out the coop. The deep litter method gives them plenty of places to dig deep and 'hide' their eggs. Guess they're tired of me coming in everyday and taking their hard work. The funny thing is that none of them will 'sit' on a nest - so I'm not quite sure why they hide them.

For a few weeks last summer I didn't get a lot of eggs - I wasn't too worried as it was the first summer my hens were laying so I thought their bodies were still adjusting. I was doing some gardening one day and came across 2 dozen eggs in a nest under a thick bush. Locked them up in their run/coop for a few days and left a few eggs in the nest to get them to realize that the coop is where they need to lay them - no problems since. If they free range is it possible that they may have hidden nests somewhere??? It is spring and instinct to 'protect' the eggs may have kicked in.

As previous posters said - some hens take 'breaks'. It seems that I have a few hens that lay an egg every few days and I have some that seem to lay almost every day. I have 8 hens and get anywhere from 4 to 8 eggs a day.