Fake Eggs in Nesting Boxes-- Good Idea, Nah, or Meh?

[Judy Todd]

ai thought it was a bit of hooey, until my olive egger started to hide her eggs, in far corners of the coop and outer area. I put one egg in each nest and like magic , she remembered to lay in the nest. No more throwing out eggs, because I am not sure how old they are. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Thymewarrior]

Makes sense to me, that a hen would be more likely to lay where laying is apparently already occurring. But a neighbor says nope, the hen will avoid laying in that box because another hen is using it. I have seen plenty of hens doubling up on the same nesting box so kind of had to call BS on that. But should I, or not? I bought some ceramic ones at TSC the other day and put them out in 4 of my 6 boxes last night. This morning I got one egg from one of the boxes with no ceramic egg. Another egg out in the run, on the ground. I have a half dozen wooden eggs coming, too, BTW.

Does color make a difference? The ones I got at TSC are light blue and green. Hens are Brown Leghorns laying white eggs a bit smaller than the fakes cause they just started laying.

I started my hens with a fake egg in each of the three nest boxes. They will use only one and they fight over it. They will stand outside of it and yell at any hen that might be currently using it.

 

[JnAP]

Once my first lady started laying them in the sand of the run, I added 2 fake wooden eggs to each nesting box and immediately she started using the nesting boxes, and all the others followed suit. I am a firm believer that they helped my girls know where to lay. Now I have a cuckoo marans currently trying to hatch the fake eggs. Oh well, better them than the real ones I suppose, because at least I don't have to fight her for the eggs!

 

[RPw1690]

I like to think that the fake eggs deter the egg eaters. We do lose one egg every two weeks or so, half of them in a nesting box.
Judging from the many dings in several heavy plastic white eggs, they get a lot of experimental pecks. The heavy wooden ones don’t ding like that. Marans and Leghorn or RI Red don’t seem to care if an egg is there or not. Some other selection criteria going on.

 

[VeronicaD]

Makes sense to me, that a hen would be more likely to lay where laying is apparently already occurring. But a neighbor says nope, the hen will avoid laying in that box because another hen is using it. I have seen plenty of hens doubling up on the same nesting box so kind of had to call BS on that. But should I, or not? I bought some ceramic ones at TSC the other day and put them out in 4 of my 6 boxes last night. This morning I got one egg from one of the boxes with no ceramic egg. Another egg out in the run, on the ground. I have a half dozen wooden eggs coming, too, BTW.

Does color make a difference? The ones I got at TSC are light blue and green. Hens are Brown Leghorns laying white eggs a bit smaller than the fakes cause they just started laying.

 

[Sherrie H]

I can only give my experience: bought fake brown eggs, put them in the nesting boxes - the girls decided, nope. No fake eggs and no nesting box. All 6 decided "hey we all want the same nest and it just happens to be under the roost", which I had set up with 3 concrete blocks on each side, a huge plant tray over the top of the blocks and the roost in it to catch their droppings. This, they all decided was perfect. Go figure.

 

[Newbie102]

First time chicken keeper. I just used a plastic Easter egg and they all laid in the nesting box. I just keep it in there. They seem to expect it. One hen likes to push it through the rollaway divider to the back, so I just put it back in place each time I collect the eggs. I am hoping my two youngest will follow suit.

 

[RedwoodCoastChick]

I bought 3 solid ceramic fake eggs when my 8 same-age pullets were getting close to laying for the first time. (My first flock, no veteran hen to show them.) Two brown eggs, one bluish-green (since 3 girls would be laying colors). It made them curious about the nest boxes (which they'd ignored before then). I was very happy when the first eggs were indeed deposited in the nest boxes! Once the real eggs started coming, I realized I needed to mark the fakes to make gathering easier, so each sports a Sharpied "F" on the pointy end.

They're all just finishing their 2nd full molt (poor shabby girls!) and are good layers; don't really need the fakes but we're all used to them. I admit to messing with the girls now & then by putting all the fakes in the least-favored nest (it then collects more real eggs). Fun to see who moves to the "popular" nest and who keeps laying where she had been. (I have 3 nest boxes but they ignore one completely. All look the same to me...)

 

[EmmaDonovan]

I like them. They also help discourage egg eating.