My hens usually lay eggs anywhere from 10am to 3 or 4pm. Most of them just after 12 Noon. This is fine with me. But I run a Farm Day Camp in the summer for kids and they love collecting eggs -it's a morning program and we usually go out to collect between 9:30 and 11pm and there usually aren't many eggs at that time..... is there any way I change my hens cycle adding a light in the barn in early morning, etc..? so they will lay early in the morning, prefereably all be done laying by about 10am...? (I don't like leaving the eggs in the nests overnight for the next day because it seems when I don't collect the eggs that is when I run into problems with egg eaters)
I don't know if this can be done or not. Mine seem to lay in the early mornings usually. Maybe you could take the eggs out and then replace them just before the children come to collect them? BTW - if your chickens are the egg eaters a few artificial eggs placed in the nestbox will help break them of this. You can buy wooden ones or porcelain ones. I've used them both and it usually breaks them fairly quickly as I imagine the hard egg is a little shock to their beak. Good luck and have fun!
Go out in the morning before the kids get there & put the eggs back in the nests. The kids won't know any better-they believe in the tooth fairy don't they?
