I think i just found a new egg production idea!!!

[TNchickies]

My neighbors watched the chickens for me while i was gone, and they figured out one amazing trick: leaving an egg in the nest box speeds up productivity. I'm not absolutely sold that this works, but they said that, since they were only getting two eggs a day, all they did was leave in egg in two of the boxes, and the next day, they got nine eggs!!! I only have 10 hens, so that's pretty great! I'm not sure if this will work, but i'm going to test it myself and see. Keep in mind, it's freezing here, and it's like 40 degrees or below lately!!! i'll keep everyone posted and see if this 'new trick' really works.

 

[maxpedley]

There is some truth behind this. A hen is more likely to lay if she sees an egg because she think it is time to lay, so by leaving 1 egg in the other hens will be prompted into lay. This is why you can buy pot eggs. You leave them in your nests and it encourages pullets to start laying and it also encourages them to lay in the nest boxes

 

[lazy gardener]

I wouldn't leave an egg in below freezing temps. It'll freeze and crack, then when the weather warms up, or a chicken sets on it to lay the next egg, it will thaw a bit and ooze, perhaps giving the hens a taste for their own eggs.

 

[maxpedley]

If I were you I would by a pot egg or rubber egg from a feed store for the reason lazy gardener stated. The hens think they are a real egg but they will not freeze.

 

[TNchickies]

I tried a fake egg, but by the next day it was missing....?????. I tried a real one and sure enough i got nine eggs, but since the temp started to drop, i stopped doing it. I will try in spring to see if it works.

No i'm only getting one or to eggs!

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

You can't make a hen lay more eggs before her body is ready any more than a woman can cause herself to ovulate more just because she wants a baby.

Yes, fake eggs/real eggs/ golf balls in the nest boxes can help chickens know WHERE to lay, especially young pullets, but it doesn't make them lay more eggs or pullets begin to lay eggs earlier.

Remember, correlation is not the same as causation. It is normal to have 10 hens and some days get 9 or even 10 eggs and other days get fewer. What you need to look at is the average rate of lay, which is to add up the number of eggs and divide by the number of chickens. That will tell you the percentage of hens that laid an egg each day. For example, I might get 48 eggs one day and 56 the next, and 53 the day after that, etc. but over a week, it all averages out to about 72% rate of lay, which is decent for this time of year and the age of my birds.

The reason you're only getting a few eggs right now is lack of light hours. A hen needs 14 hours of light to lay well, and right now we're getting around 10 hours of light. When the light hours come back up, the hens will begin to lay again regardless of whether or not there's an egg in the nest boxes.

 

[TNchickies]

You can't make a hen lay more eggs before her body is ready any more than a woman can cause herself to ovulate more just because she wants a baby.

Yes, fake eggs/real eggs/ golf balls in the nest boxes can help chickens know WHERE to lay, especially young pullets, but it doesn't make them lay more eggs or pullets begin to lay eggs earlier.

Remember, correlation is not the same as causation. It is normal to have 10 hens and some days get 9 or even 10 eggs and other days get fewer. What you need to look at is the average rate of lay, which is to add up the number of eggs and divide by the number of chickens. That will tell you the percentage of hens that laid an egg each day. For example, I might get 48 eggs one day and 56 the next, and 53 the day after that, etc. but over a week, it all averages out to about 72% rate of lay, which is decent for this time of year and the age of my birds.

The reason you're only getting a few eggs right now is lack of light hours. A hen needs 14 hours of light to lay well, and right now we're getting around 10 hours of light. When the light hours come back up, the hens will begin to lay again regardless of whether or not there's an egg in the nest boxes.

Thanks.