Fake egg

[Zobot0110]

I put a fake egg in nesting box. Hen is squawking like crazy. Should I remove the egg? New chicken keeper here..
Just got the hen, don’t know her history or age

 

[WingItRanch]

Nope! Leave the fake egg there permanently. She'll figure it out! The squawking is normal when they lay an egg. Mine are super loud right before hand and then sometimes right after.

She looks older in the picture. Just a heads up that egg production decreases as they age. Drops off after 2 years old.

 

[Zobot0110]

Thank you.
Yes I was wondering if maybe she is too old for eggs

 

[Zobot0110]

2 eggs! But frozen and cracked

 

[WingItRanch]

2 eggs! But frozen and cracked
View attachment 4018519

Congrats! Bummer about them freezing. You might just have to check for eggs regularly and grab them as they're laid.

 

[Rick589]

I was wondering about this as well. We have golf balls in the boxes and the hens have been laying in the boxes consistently, with the exception of one time in the coop itself which was easily corrected. Anyway, and these are still pullets that have been laying for about three weeks now, should the golf balls be left there indefinitely or removed at some point?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I Leave golf balls in the nests all the time but it's up to you.

 

[WingItRanch]

It doesn't hurt to leave them. I don't remove them.

I tried golf balls at first but it wasn't working to "train" my girls so ended up getting more realistic wooden eggs and that worked like a charm. There's always 1 in each box. I marked them with Xs since they're so realistic.