Egg storage

[RaZ]

I used golf balls and had success with that. Right up until a bird went broody and tried so hard to hatch the golf balls while pushing the real eggs away.

 

[KieksterChicken]

Hens can be so finicky about nest boxes. I have 3 nest boxes but I once watched three of my 5 hens all climbing into one small nest box at the same time to lay. I didn't even know 3 hens could crawl into and fit into one tiny space like that. Fortunately I was there and removed two of the hens so they didn't smother each other. Thankfully they haven't ever tried to do it again since then. Weird hens. I don't get it

 

[bruceha2000]

I didn't read all 21 pages from this thread but I had a question maybe some one can answer. So one of my chickens has started laying pullet eggs so far 8 eggs in 8 days, so my question is this do you know if leaving an egg or few eggs in the nest box will encourage my other girls to use the nest box or start laying eggs also? I noticed only 1 of the 3 nest boxes were being used so I moved one of the eggs to the next nest box over to see if my pullet would use the newly occupied nest box and sure enough the next day the I found a second egg in the newly occupied nest box. So is it a good idea to keep one egg in each next box to try and keep them using all of the nest boxes? And does it encourage the chickens to lay and or use the nest boxes if a I keep a few eggs in them?

Don't leave the chickens' eggs in the nests to encourage others, you don't want them going bad. Use fake eggs. I have mismatched plastic Easter eggs with a small rock inside (so they mimic the weight of a real egg) in each nest. If you have a community box, don't be surprised to find they move all the eggs into the same place then lay their egg in the pile.

My birds have favorite nests and yes some like the same one as another bird and really don't want to use another if "their" box is in use.

 

[KingKongChicken]

Don't leave the chickens' eggs in the nests to encourage others, you don't want them going bad. Use fake eggs. I have mismatched plastic Easter eggs with a small rock inside (so they mimic the weight of a real egg) in each nest. If you have a community box, don't be surprised to find they move all the eggs into the same place then lay their egg in the pile.

My birds have favorite nests and yes some like the same one as another bird and really don't want to use another if "their" box is in use.

Thanks for the comment, I'm not really worried about the eggs going bad in the nest box this time of the year its colder with temps around 45*-60* Fahrenheit in the coop and since the eggs are not rinsed they have that protective bloom coating and they can last days or even weeks if i wanted to without refrigeration. But to keep them fresh I have been just leaving 1 egg in each box and change them every other day. Also my chickens seem to mainly sleep/roost on the perch and only use the nest boxes when laying so the nest boxes keep real clean.

 

[KieksterChicken]

KingKongChicken the danger of leaving real eggs in each nesting box to encourage further egg laying in the same boxes is in the possibility of the eggs going bad. But the danger also lies in leaving the eggs in the nesting boxes and taking the chance a chicken will break one of the eggs. Chickens love to eat raw eggs to such a degree it seems like they gobble it up like a child eating candy and if they happen to break one you left in the box and they eat it there is a very high chance they will begin breaking and eating all the eggs layed in the nesting box forever after. Once a chicken begins eating the eggs in the nesting boxes it becomes a habit that is just about impossible to break and they can destroy a large amount of the eggs layed in the nesting boxes and usually the only solution is to kill the egg eater. This is why it's a bad idea to leave real eggs in the nesting boxes. Also, leaving real eggs in a nesting box can stimulate a hen to become broody and it's not really something you want them to do. The broody hen will try and hatch the eggs and often will sit on them for 3 to 4 weeks even if the eggs aren't fertile and she will not eat much food or drink much and can get very debilitated and sick and she will also stake a claim to the nest and not allow the other hens to lay their eggs in it. It's also a bad idea if you don't want chicks or don't have the coop and run set up to safely handle chicks. When you see someone in this forum giving you info and they have made a thousand or more posts it indicates they are regular contributors and very experienced in raising chickens. It's usually best to heed their advice as they are almost always quite correct in their advice and solutions.

 

[KingKongChicken]

Thank you bruceha2000 & KieksterChicken for your comments I agree leaving real eggs inside the nest boxes to encourage other hens to use the boxes increases the chances of teaching chickens bad habits of eating eggs and I also understand it can make a hen go broody and that is also bad, that is why I was asking. Those are two good reasons not to leave your eggs in the nest boxes to encourage other hens to use the box. As I said in my previous comment they will not just go bad in the nest box because its cold enough to keep them preserved for several weeks just at room temp. Anyways thank you again for the comments that's why I asked. I made some eggs up for breakfast they had great flavor and there shells where nice and thick. So thick in fact I accidentally dropped one and the fall put a dent in the egg shell but did not break it, so i cooked it immediately and it was all good.

 

[KieksterChicken]

Eggs from your own home grown flock are always so much better all around in flavor and nice shells etc. Eggs from factory farms don't ever get close to being as good. Enjoy your flock KinKongChicken. I love your coop and your birds are gorgeous. Did they all turn out to be pullets or is that one still leaving you guessing?

 

[bruceha2000]

Thank you bruceha2000 & KieksterChicken for your comments I agree leaving real eggs inside the nest boxes to encourage other hens to use the boxes increases the chances of teaching chickens bad habits of eating eggs and I also understand it can make a hen go broody and that is also bad, that is why I was asking. Those are two good reasons not to leave your eggs in the nest boxes to encourage other hens to use the box. As I said in my previous comment they will not just go bad in the nest box because its cold enough to keep them preserved for several weeks just at room temp. Anyways thank you again for the comments that's why I asked. I made some eggs up for breakfast they had great flavor and there shells where nice and thick. So thick in fact I accidentally dropped one and the fall put a dent in the egg shell but did not break it, so i cooked it immediately and it was all good.

I have never left a real egg in the nests and the girls that go broody still go broody. Once broody they will be happy to try to hatch the plastic egg in the nest. They will be happy to try and hatch the wood shavings when I take the egg out. I had one that thawed 2 refreezable ice packs sequentially in a day. The only way I know to break them is the broody buster box up on the roosts. Just have to wait out their hormones and hope the lack of ability to keep their underparts hot speeds up that process.

I have had a couple of eggs that were accidentally broken by another hen though fortunately they haven't become egg eaters. Could be I was lucky and got to the nest before another hen decided to lay in that one.

I'm not sure how you know which egg in a nest was laid yesterday and which was laid today unless you mark them with a pencil or something.
You are right, they probably won't go bad even if left a couple of days but remember that the underside of a chicken isn't "room temperature" and any egg you leave in might spend many hours a day under a succession of hens that choose to use the same box.

Those plastic Easter Eggs are REALLY cheap (cheep??) Just saying

 

[jawilcox29]

Why does the general American public refrigerate eggs?

 

[bworch]

my original question was how long can you keep fertilized eggs to eat, in a cold pantry, not cleaned. Thanks