My Best Advice for: Chickens and Egg Laying
Have Dark, Private, nest boxes :
Chickens like to lay their eggs in a dark private place, usually where there are other eggs, this is why many people will put fake eggs in their hens nest boxes. If your hens aren't laying in their nest boxes, you could put a few flaps, or pieces of cloth, in front of the nest box to make it a bit more private and dark.
If you ever notice, that you are not getting as much eggs as you used to, the hens might have built a secret nest somewhere in the yard. if you watch were they go around midday-morning, you may be able to find it.
The darkness of the nest box, is also a contributing factor in weather the hen will lay in it or not. When hens make a nest, it will almost always face south, away from the sun and light. If you ever find a hens hidden nest, you will probably notice how well hidden and dark it is, and like I just said, it will almost always face south. Many people have though that a missing hen was eaten by predators, only to find them a few weeks later with a group of chicks following behind her.
If you ever find a hidden nest, and wonder if the eggs are still good to eat : You can either candle them or use the float test the eggs.
If you candle them:
A fresher egg will have a small air sack at the large end of the egg, and an older egg will have a larger air sack. This is because, older eggs have had more time out of the hen, and this gives gas time to build up inside it, enlarging the air sack.
If you do the float test:
All you need to do is fill a big bowl with water, and put the eggs in there. The fresher eggs will sink to the bottom. Older eggs will float a little more, due to the gas build up inside them. As long as part of the egg touches the bottom, it is still safe to eat. If an egg floats all the way to the top, if is old and rotten, and should be discarded. Fresh eggs can last from around three weeks to a month if stored properly. They can last even more, if they are pickled or frozen(do not freeze eggs with their shell, they will expand and the shell will crack making a mess)
Other egg laying comments/ advice:
Young pullets will start to lay at around 6 months, given the right conditions. Their first eggs may be small, mishapen, and may not even have a shell, but once they get into a normal laying routine, they will start laying normal and larger eggs.
Pullets(young hens) lay the most eggs during their fist 3-2 years, after this period of time, they will still lay allot, but as the years go by their laying will eventually die down.
Hens that already have an established laying routine, can be expected to lay 3-5 eggs a week on average. While a young pullets, during their peak of laying, may lay as much as 5-7 eggs a week on average.
If you have 3 hens, you can expect to get 2 eggs most days, 3 eggs some days, during the summer, and either 1 or no eggs during winter.
Hens lay more with the increase of daylight hours. Light triggers something in the hen to lay more, and you can expect more eggs in the spring and summer months. During winter, most pure breeds will have stoped laying because of the decrease of light during the day, while some hybrid egg laying breeds will still lay, but not as much.
I edited it right now just organized it a bit ..... Sorry it's a little long.....does it still qualify? If it doesn't, please tell me so I can edit it a bit to shorten it.
Edited by The Chickeneer - 2/24/12 at 6:42pm
, everyone here is a chicken addict 
, people may look at you weird when you tell them, but its way better to be addicted to chickens then all the other stuff out there.............
