As far as fake eggs go, do I always leave them in the nest boxes or can I take them out after they learn where to lay? Haven't seen that mentioned anywhere.
I assumed once the older ones learned where to lay, any new ones would just follow their lead.
I tend to put a fake egg in each nestbox and leave it there. It does not harm, and saves me having to store the fake egg somewhere else. So any hen or pullet that is looking for a good place to lay can see that this nestbox is "safe" (has an egg) even if she's the first one to lay that morning, or I've already collected the real eggs. Also, any chicken that is thinking about eating eggs can peck the fake egg and find it boring.
Whether fake eggs make any difference seems to depend on the flock. Some chickens lay in the nestboxes just fine without them, some chickens lay elsewhere even with fake eggs in the box, and some chickens actually care.
I know of two particular hens (belong to a friend) that were egg eaters, until they were given an egg-shaped stone. I'm told they spent hours every day pecking at that stone, before they finally gave up, and after that they didn't eat eggs either. Most cases of egg-eating seem unaffected by fake eggs.
If I have a broody hen and want her to adopt chicks, I'll let her sit on several fake eggs for three weeks and then give her chicks. I swipe fake eggs from other nestboxes for this, and stick them back afterward.
Fake eggs may not be terribly important, but they last practically forever, so once you have them it's easy enough to just leave them in the nests. It's probably not worth going out and buying fake eggs unless you actually have a problem, or unless you just want to. And yes, if you already have golf balls, those work fine too.
