How many eggs should I leave in the nesting boxes?

[Mojookie]

Good morning BYC peeps, I posted a question about my hens laying out of the coop the other day. I pasted it below the new question.

My chickens are laying in their nesting boxes now. As of last night there were 21 eggs in the nesting boxes. How many of the eggs should I take?

Previous question:
I've searched and can't find an answer to my problem, but here goes... I had 8 hens and 3 roosters, about a month ago I got rid of one of my roosters and added 5 hens. This seemed to take care of my rooster problem that I was having. About a week ago my egg production drastically dropped from about 7-8 eggs a day to 2-4 eggs a day. I thought the problem was that they were molting, but today I found 45 hidden eggs in different locations in the barn outside of their coop. Their coop is in this barn, but they are not laying in the nesting boxes. I had a problem with not enough hens to roosters ratio, but adding the 5 hens appeared to fix the problem. One of the roosters was abusing the hens, but that is no longer a problem. They have grouped into two different flocks. The head rooster is with the original 8 hens, and my other rooster is with the 5 new hens. Has anyone experienced this type of problem, or know how I can get them to start laying in their nesting boxes again? My chickens are free ranged daily. I thought maybe I should keep them in the coop for a few days, but don't know if this is a good idea? Any input would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
Mojookie

 

[Peplers chicks]

I would leave two and try not to even touch it, but I also failed previously and caused my hen's to lay elsewhere. so I waited them out till broody time, and replace the eggs underneath them, They were three that kept laying together.

 

[Eggcessive]

I have had chickens for several years, and I always put a single golf ball in my nest boxes. Every time I go into the coop throughout the day I remove eggs into a container. If the eggs are left out, they may be pecked and broken. You don't need to leave real eggs--fake eggs or golf balls will work.

 

[Mojookie]

Thanks for the info. I know I have some Golf balls somewhere, but where???? These Chickens keep me on my toes.