Is my egg amount normal?

[CedarRanch]

I have 21 laying hens. Ages range from 6 months to 2 years old. All sorts of breeds, RIR, cinnamon queen, Easter egger, olive egger, Welsummer, ameraucana, marans, Orpington, austrolorp, Wyandotte. A good mix of breeds. They are free range from 6am-7pm. Fed kalmbach 17% nongmo feed with some scratch and mealworms with food always available. The 2 6 month old hens are just now laying. But we are getting anywhere from 10-15 eggs a day. This number just doesn’t feel right to me. We were getting 12 a day, then 14 then back down to 12, then a jump to 15, and then today I got 10. It’s been raining the past 2 days straight, one hen is broody and sitting on a clutch starting today. But this just doesn’t seem right for the amount of hens I have. I’m in Missouri and high temps are between 50-70 degrees F. Lows can get down into 30s. They have plenty of space to roam. I have 7 nesting boxes. There are no hidden nests that I can find, our land is open field and woods and I watch them as much as I can and I don’t see them nesting anywhere. No worms, no sickness, no lice or pests, etc. all healthy. Is it just the weather? When do they hit max production? Is it the breeds I have?

 

[Brylea]

I’m not an expert but this happens with my hens sometimes. Some of them may just not be consistent layers, and some don’t lay everyday. The older they get the less they will start to lay.

 

[Yardmom]

Individual birds can have different cycles. It would be rare to get the same number of eggs as hens in a flock of mixed breeds on any given day. On the other hand your birds should be at the peak of lay only 10 in a day sounds a bit low. Try keeping them in the coop a couple days and see if you get more or fewer eggs. More eggs could mean a hidden nests (sometimes I missed nests in the coop even). If you get fewer eggs there might be an egg eater. If so add more protein and always make sure they have access to a calcium source.

 

[Brylea]

Yessss! My chickens are free range and they are always making nests around the yard

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hi, I'm in SE Missouri. I have 19 potential layers and a rooster. Two or three of my hens may be 3 years old, some may be 2 years old and the majority are just now coming one year. Some days I get 15 eggs, some days 8. I have an SS, a Copper Blue Marans, some Prairie Bluebell Eggers, some lavender eggers, and some Sapphire Gems. Some days I get way more blue than brown eggs, other days I get mostly browns. Once in a while I get a cream egg - I think that is the SS. They just ... lay when and what they lay. I don't worry about it. I get what I get and I'm happy.

 

[CedarRanch]

Individual birds can have different cycles. It would be rare to get the same number of eggs as hens in a flock of mixed breeds on any given day. On the other hand your birds should be at the peak of lay only 10 in a day sounds a bit low. Try keeping them in the coop a couple days and see if you get more or fewer eggs. More eggs could mean a hidden nests (sometimes I missed nests in the coop even). If you get fewer eggs there might be an egg eater. If so add more protein and always make sure they have access to a calcium source.

I feel like 10 is very low. They lay all day long, they’re often not done until 4pm. Some days I go in at 4 and there are still chickens laying eggs. So keeping them in the coop would be a little hard. I’ve scoured my yard, there are no hidden nests, we’ve been dealing with these fluctuations for a while and I’ve looked everywhere they could possibly lay and then places that would make absolutely no sense and we’ve never found a hidden nest. As far as egg eaters, wouldn’t there be some mess or egg shell left behind? There’s none.

 

[Yardmom]

I don't really suspect that you have egg eaters, but egg eaters can eat the whole egg. There would not be any shell left. Maybe a wet spot or some yellow on someone's head might give it away

 

[HollowOfWisps]

If they were all first year layers of a very egg productive breed then yes, but what you have going on is three things.
1. You have 2 years which will not lay as much as they did in their first year.
2. You have a couple breeds that lay around 150-200 eggs per year. That means you will have 165-216 days average without eggs from those chickens per year.
3. Many chickens do not lay every single day of the week and even in their prime will usually take 1-2 days off from laying.

They will all take breaks throughout the week on different days resulting in less eggs daily. I have a similar mix of breeds right now and if you don’t count my older hens I have 22 pullets 2 and under. I am getting about the same amount of eggs as you per day.

 

[RcoM]

I feel like 10 is very low. They lay all day long, they’re often not done until 4pm. Some days I go in at 4 and there are still chickens laying eggs. So keeping them in the coop would be a little hard. I’ve scoured my yard, there are no hidden nests, we’ve been dealing with these fluctuations for a while and I’ve looked everywhere they could possibly lay and then places that would make absolutely no sense and we’ve never found a hidden nest. As far as egg eaters, wouldn’t there be some mess or egg shell left behind? There’s none.

Other animals also eat eggs. Like goannas.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I am going to quote @Ridgerunner here and say that with living animals you do not get guarantees. No chicken lays an egg a day, every single day. They are not machines. And there is nothing you can do to change that.