You should be able to turn a hen over and check her vent to determine if she is laying eggs or not. If they are laying but you cannot find eggs, they may be eating their eggs, a predator could be getting them or they have a hidden clutch. During times of moderate temperature and long periods of light, any hen not laying then should be soup. But during the months of darkness, without artificial light, many good hens will stop laying.
What should I be looking for, as far as checking the vent.
There isn't any place for a secret nest. They could be eating the eggs but I haven't seen any evidence or shells since about 2 weeks ago.
They have been laying well up until 2-3 weeks ago, I was getting 5 eggs every 3 days. They're jersey giants (4 of them) so they're not excellent layers.
This year I made a few newbie mistakes. I'll get a timer for the light. And I'm thinking it's time for hubby to try his hand at being the butcher very soon. I'm not running a boarding house.
They're confined. I've seen broken shells, outside of the boxes. I figured it was unlikely the chickens ate the eggs since the shells were in the yard and not in or near the boxes...?
There has been skunk activity so I'm thinking likely that's what's getting in there. I saw a spot that looked dug so I put something over it, I'll get some bricks in that spot. And I'm gonna need to get a trap.
So if I do catch a skunk..... WHAT do I do with it?
Netting is a good idea, I have some bird net around here so I'll try that too.
You can stop the skunk from digging it's way in by putting down an "apron" around the perimeter of the fence and coop. You can usually just lay the wire flat on the ground and cover it with a little dirt or compost and grass will eventually anchor it in place.
You can attach it to the existing fence with "J clips" or hog rings, or even zip ties if needed.
If you trap a skunk you can shoot it from a distance, or throw an old blanket or towel over the trap and drop the whole thing in a large container of water to drown it.
Younger hens lay more winter eggs than older ones do. For instance, I do not bother with lights any longer, and last winter I got about 1 egg per week from my 4 older hens. I bought chicks last spring and yesterday I got 5 eggs from my 4 pullets and 2 old hens. (I lost 2 old hens last summer from natural causes: some kind of illness I think).
Thanks so much BFF, will get on that this weekend!
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