When do you collect the eggs?

[Run Amock DucksNChickens]

Really it is not a big deal, unless you are in freezing temperatures. A lot of people keep eggs on the counter, just fine. If I am there, I check and pick up the eggs. If they sit a overnight, I don't worry about it.

I have found that a large group of eggs, and the chicken gods in the right position can kind of, sort of, maybe, might cause a bird to go broody.

Mrs K

Haha... yes I found a couple of hidden nests when I looked last week, about 20 eggs in each. Louise was sitting but being the first few eggs, I binned them. Now they are laying in 2 nest outside their night quarters and 2 inside.

 

[Shezadandy]

As many times as is practical. Now I try to do it mid-morning then late afternoon. If there are still a bunch of them in the boxes then I'll do an evening check. The thing is - eventually someone will figure out that they can break open and eat the egg, usually by accident the first time - and then your eggs will begin to disappear. So whatever you can do to keep them from discovering the deliciousness of the treats they labor to produce ...

 

[Run Amock DucksNChickens]

Thank you for your advice. I love looking for eggs so I might just do it whenever and definitely at the end of the day.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

I collect eggs in the morning when I let them out, in the afternoon (12 or 1), and in the evening when I shut the doors.

 

[Shezadandy]

Thank you for your advice. I love looking for eggs so I might just do it whenever and definitely at the end of the day.

Depending on your individual chickens, the other thing that can happen is a hen will go broody, claim a nest, and then fight with the hens trying to lay. Now, a smart broody invites the hens in to add to her clutch of eggs she hopes to hatch. Not all are smart... Then you get a hen with a bunch of egg stuck to her undersides and a coating of yuck on all the other eggs, and sometimes they have whole eggs 'glued' to them because they refuse to move and the broken egg dries. (doesn't matter how many nest boxes are available)

 

[Loveshorsesandglee]

I usually get the eggs at night after I close the birds in sometimes I will get them in the afternoon.