Where's my eggs???

[JLS]

I have 1 year old hens (10). They laid better this winter than they are now! I have installed a light to come on at 4:30am. The other day I collected 9 eggs in one day but that was a freak occurance! Mostly I collect 4 or 5 a day! One has gone broody on me. I take her out of the box several times per day. For weeks she's been this way. Now my other ladies have been laying on the floor, some times in the corn bucket, twice I found an egg outside!

I am really upset about this. They were so good at laying and laying where they were suposed to. Where are the eggs going? I feed them the very best. They have oyster shell in a feeder available 24/7. I give them corn and wheat as regular treats., food scraps, they have a big fenced in yard with lots of grass. As far as I can tell, they have more than the basics. Any ideas???

 

[conroy]

How many boxes do you have? Maybe add more.

 

[Tamrajh]

I have 24 hens, all less than 2 years old, and get 1 egg a day. When you figure it out, please tell me!

 

[JLS]

Quote:
I have enough boxes for 25+ hens. They are oversized because my ladies are larger birds.

I did notice a large garder snake yesterday in the run. I watched with anticipation of a battle to see who would get the snake, but the girls just looked at it and after some time it retreated under the coop. I do not believe that garder snakes eat eggs though.

I haven't seen any evidence of any animals getting into the coop during the day. I lock my ladies up tight at night. Should they be laying more or am I worrying too much? I hope I'm not being greedy!

 

[Choco Maran]

The weather has alot to do with how and when they lay. To hot out and they will quite laying. I have 50 two yrs and under. I was getting 40 a day for a long time and now I get around 30. But we have been getting 90 + degrees during the day. Thet may also be molting. I would not worry to much

 

[Chic Chick]

Maybe you are giving them too many treats and lowering their protein intake. Maybe they have a secret nest somewhere in the grass.
Or maybe you have some egg eaters......

 

[gvntofly05]

Garter snakes will eat eggs if other food sources are low. It could be a possible culprit.

 

[gritsar]

Have you checked your hens for mites? Itchy, scratchy, unhappy hens don't lay well. Also, be sure and keep the treat amounts real low.

 

[kudzu vine]

You might want to read my post "Want More Eggs?". I told what I did to get more eggs and it's working.

 

[JLS]

Quote:
They are looking pretty shabby as of late! But I didn't think they would molt until after summer?? I did have 2 "Ms. Hannable Lecters" that I re-homed. Since then, there hasn't been any pecking issues, And yet they have a lot of down feathers showing - not to mention the baboon bums!!! Uhgg! I haven't noticed any mites either.