Take all the eggs?

[Ecalix]

So my hen just started laying. I don’t want babies, I want to eat the eggs. So do I just take the egg when she lays it or do I leave her one so she keeps laying?

 

[BaaKaaawk]

For eating, you should take the eggs daily. A laying hen doesn't need to see an egg to lay, they are going to lay 1-2 eggs every 3-4 days in normal conditions (less in the cold).

Not sure your flock size, but also, some hens may "learn" to break eggs and eat them if they are left too long, so it is good to collect for that purpose as well. Once they learn that terrible trait- it's essentially impossible to break them of it. It's rare though generally speaking and much more common with more birds.

 

[Callender Girl]

Take the eggs every day.

Once a hen figures out where to lay, she will likely continue. One of the girls I got this spring COULD lay in the nest box where her sisters smartly drop their eggs. But, she started laying before I added that box, so she still likes to crawl under the poop shelf and put her eggs in the most inconvenient place possible.

With new layers and in coops where anyone has ever shown an interest in egg eating, I use cheap fake eggs from Hobby Lobby. One advantage to the fake eggs there is that they are exactly the same size and shape at both ends -- unlike a real egg. That made it much easier on my summer critter sitter; when I used more realistic-looking fakes, she frequently gathered those and brought them into the house with the real eggs.

 

[Ecalix]

For eating, you should take the eggs daily. A laying hen doesn't need to see an egg to lay, they are going to lay 1-2 eggs every 3-4 days in normal conditions (less in the cold).

Not sure your flock size, but also, some hens may "learn" to break eggs and eat them if they are left too long, so it is good to collect for that purpose as well. Once they learn that terrible trait- it's essentially impossible to break them of it. It's rare though generally speaking and much more common with more birds.

Thank you!!

 

[nuthatched]

If you don't have a rooster, there's no reason to worry about babies, it fine to take all the eggs. Do you only have one hen?

 

[Hazelnutfrapp]

So my hen just started laying. I don’t want babies, I want to eat the eggs. So do I just take the egg when she lays it or do I leave her one so she keeps laying?

We take ours everyday. Before they started laying, we used old golf balls instead of buying fake eggs. It was cute to see them put the golfball under them while they were laying their real eggs. The ladies, except for 2 like to use the same box- and let everyone know when they’re upset because it’s already in use . One of the 2 “others” likes to snuggle into a dark corner and lay there. Depending on how she’s feeling I guess, the second “other” will leave her egg wherever she likes. Which is kind of fun because she picks some odd places.

 

[Ecalix]

If you don't have a rooster, there's no reason to worry about babies, it fine to take all the eggs. Do you only have one hen?

I have a rooster. We have 5 hens. One is currently sitting on 7 eggs and 1 has 2 chicks already. We don’t want any more babies. Lol.
actually we have 3 roosters but we’ve separated the others and figuring out what to do with them. I don’t think our yard or flock is big enough for more than 1 rooster.

 

[K0k0shka]

I have a rooster. We have 5 hens. One is currently sitting on 7 eggs and 1 has 2 chicks already. We don’t want any more babies. Lol.
actually we have 3 roosters but we’ve separated the others and figuring out what to do with them. I don’t think our yard or flock is big enough for more than 1 rooster.

You're right, your flock isn't big enough for more than 1 rooster (and even that one might be too much for only 5 hens). If you want the sitting hen to hatch the eggs she's sitting on, mark them and collect any unmarked eggs the others may lay in her nest. If you don't want her to hatch them, because you already have babies, then collect all the eggs daily and don't leave any eggs in the nests overnight.

 

[Ecalix]

Oh that’s a good idea about the marking. We had left her 2 eggs to hatch and now she has 7 and now I have a feeling the others might have laid some eggs in there. I thought once they stayed in there all day then they were done laying.

 

[BaaKaaawk]

Oh that’s a good idea about the marking. We had left her 2 eggs to hatch and now she has 7 and now I have a feeling the others might have laid some eggs in there. I thought once they stayed in there all day then they were done laying.

That's what happens and since you have a rooster the eggs are fertile and you don't want them to start developing and then crack them open. I think most people separate the hens they are going to let incubate and/or as mentioned clearly mark them.

But hens like the same boxes- and they see eggs and want to lay there because another hen survived there lol... so they'll just keep piling them on top until you get them all out of there.