Uggghh! What am I doing wrong?

[backacrebabies]

I've got 35 chickens and I'm only getting 12 eggs per day. I have no idea what is going on. We had gotten up to 19 eggs in one day for a couple of days and then it dropped to 10! My girls are 29 weeks old and are a mix of Black Australorps, Americanas, Dominiques, Partridge Rocks, Buff Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, Golden Laced Wyandottes & Red Sex Links. They are free ranging from 8 am til dark. They are fed layer ration and oyster shell and occasionally scratch grains. I also started crushing their used egg shells and feeding them to them (which they LOVE). What am I missing? They all seem very healthy and are very active. The henhouse is clean. The water is clean. They don't want for anything that I can tell. It seems like we should be getting 25 to 30 eggs per day. Are my expectations too high?

 

[1stepcloser]

Are you providing additional light? (Longer days/more daylight = more laying) https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2646273 This thread says you should have 14 hours of light.

 

[bufforp89]

I have 11 hens and have only been getting 4 eggs a day. I used to get 9-10 daily. Mine free range too and I discovered today that they have some hidden nests in the yard.

 

[backacrebabies]

Do they need more light if they're outside from 8 am til 9 at night? I guess I thought that was about right. Also, they have nesting boxes that only about 5 of them will use. The rest are using "homemade" nesting boxes (large round blue barrels filled with bedding) that I provided when I saw that they weren't using the nesting box that I bought (which has 8 boxes and sits up off the ground about 2 feet). Are my chickens just a little bit "challenged"?

 

[backacrebabies]

BuffOrp89,
A month ago I found a nest from one chicken that had 28 eggs in it. But I've dismantled that "nest" and I keep looking all over and haven't found anything else. For two weeks I just kept them inside their run and they only had access to the run (which is about 30 feet X 30 feet) and the henhouse and a storage room which are another 20 X 15 feet approximately. So I know that for those two weeks there was no way they were laying in the yard and that's when the production went from about 14 to 19 and then back down to now 12. Honestly, I am about to start thinking that they're selling them on the street corner and cutting out the middle-man (me)!
By the way, I love your signature!

 

[backacrebabies]

1stepcloser,
Thanks for the light tip. I had thought of that earlier on, but really thought that they were good. I guess I could put a light timer out there for them to come on at about 6:30 in the morning? I'll try that and see how it goes. Should it be florescent or something specific?

 

[ranchhand]

Check for hidden nests and predators. I had 20 something eggs in a nest in the bushes, as well as a harmless rat snake who was getting 2 or more per day.

He was sneaky, now we race daily for the eggs!