Where are my eggs? They surely cant be in the ground or am i crazy?

[ILoveChickensAWholeLot]

I have 5 chickens and I'm pretty sure one of them is broody. I had some fake eggs in the nesting box to try and encourage the 3 that arent laying to start laying but it hasnt worked so far and since she wont leave the nest i decided to take them out. If anyone has any ideas for that thanks in advance!
Also, since the 3 chickens havent started laying, im worried that they have decided to hide their eggs in the dirt. They seem to be digging a lot, and it seems normal for them, but then they cover the hole, wich I havent seen before so im worried they might be laying in the hole and covering them. Can that happen or am i making things up?

 

[sourland]

Have you tried digging out the holes? I doubt that they are digging holes and hiding their eggs.

 

[ILoveChickensAWholeLot]

Have you tried digging out the holes? I doubt that they are digging holes and hiding their eggs.

Honestly, the holes are really far back in a spot where I cant really get to them so I'm hoping to do that as a last resort or if something smells like rotten eggs as id probably have to lay in loads of chicken poop and crawl around.

 

[21hens-incharge]

How old are the birds?
The days are still short. My young ones are 16 and 17 weeks all high production breeds and are starting to make butt dents in the nest boxes.

It is the wrong time of year to have a broody. Are you certain she is broody or could she be sick?
One should be able to reach each and every corner that the chickens can get to for several reasons.

 

[ILoveChickensAWholeLot]

How old are the birds?
The days are still short. My young ones are 16 and 17 weeks all high production breeds and are starting to make butt dents in the nest boxes.

It is the wrong time of year to have a broody. Are you certain she is broody or could she be sick?
One should be able to reach each and every corner that the chickens can get to for several reasons.

It's been 36 weeks since we got them, making them about 37 weeks. also, sorry I'm new at this, just curious but why should all the corners be reachable?

 

[3KillerBs]

It's been 36 weeks since we got them, making them about 37 weeks. also, sorry I'm new at this, just curious but why should all the corners be reachable?

Hello and welcome to BYC.

It's advisable to be able to get into anywhere a chicken can get to because they might hide eggs there, they might get stuck there, they might get sick and go hide out there, or, worst case, die there.

 

[ILoveChickensAWholeLot]

Hello and welcome to BYC.

It's advisable to be able to get into anywhere a chicken can get to because they might hide eggs there, they might get stuck there, they might get sick and go hide out there, or, worst case, die there.

ok thank you! not sure how I'm going to fix that Usually when they lay eggs back their I use a stick to carefully move it towards me