Why are my chickens laying some where else

[PDH]

i have a broody hen and i decided to let her sit on the eggs there are about 16 eggs , now all i get is maybe 2 eggs per day in the nesting area and i can't find any eggs anywhere in the run. did they stop laying ? are they laying elsewhere in the brush ? i do not know . is this normal to have this happen any advise would be great . thank you

Dan

 

[happyhens1972]

Is your broody separated from your other laying girls and their nesting/laying area? If not, she may well be stealing additional eggs to sit on....which will not only lead to staggered hatches and the associated losses but will put the whole hatch at risk if she cannot cover them all. Sixteen eggs is a lot for a broody to sit on. It's not unheard of.....I had an ex battery girl hatch sixteen bubbas but she went off and hid so I thought she'd escaped or been taken. I would never have allowed her to sit on that many had I known!

If your broody is separated and therefore not responsible for 'missing' eggs, maybe your other girls are going into moult, which stops them laying, or have some sort of feed deficiency or outside stress factor???

 

[PDH]

she is with the rest of the hens and all of her eggs are marked . the feed is good and every one looks and is acting great . she will sometimes kick 1 or two out . do they hide nests very well is it going to be a egg hunt ? lol

 

[aart]

she is with the rest of the hens and all of her eggs are marked . the feed is good and every one looks and is acting great . she will sometimes kick 1 or two out . do they hide nests very well is it going to be a egg hunt ? lol

..and you are removing any unmarked eggs from her nest every day?
If she is taking up one of the main nests, that is a disruption for the other hens and they may well laying out in range area.
How many nests and how many hens do you have?
Might try putting fake eggs in other nests to lure the other hens to lay there.

 

[PDH]

Yes when new eggs are laid i remove them . we also removed two roosters the hens seem to be more chill now . like you said they are laying in a different box now so i hope the rest will follow suit ! and great news we had one piping this morning and now there are 6 going we will have babies today !!!!

 

[chkva]

Not sure how many hens you have, but I have 3 that are laying. Everyone said 1 nesting box would be fine, but my chickens don't care what anyone says They weren't laying and as soon as I put a new nesting box, they started laying. I was getting eggs in tall grass, which is a pain because I wasn't good at egg hunts as a child and I definitely didn't get better with age. If there is a random one not in a box, my pug will let me know.

I plan on putting a new nesting box as well so I will have 3 since I have chicks (3) that will be laying in the fall.