Wooden Eggs?

[lunkerchicken]

I have 1 of 11 girls currently laying. I used wooden eggs to draw her to the nesting box area, which worked like a charm. My question is can I leave the wooden eggs there until the others begin laying?? At what point would I remove the wooden eggs - when all the girls are laying in the nesting box?? Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[Bantimna]

Maybe like after a week or 5 days.

 

[cybercat]

Just leave it. Since the will not hurt eggs lay but will make sure hens know where to lay. I too am using wooden eggs as they were cheaper than golf balls and since I had an order going in with Culter supply I just bought them then. Right now I have 3 in my one nest box till I get 2 more nest boxes. I will just leave them in the box all the time.

 

[evonne]

i would say leave it too.... i emptied the nest of 11 eggs when i found it, and when my hen went back to lay there she was confused and wansered around in the nest for a few minutes and inevitably ended up laying somewhere else...
i used golf balls since i had them laying around anyway... and now, 3 days in a row she's laid in this beautiful ornamental birdcage i have by my front door... i take the egg out and leave teh golf balls and there's no congusion because i don't think she can count enough to realize 1 is missing.. lol....
so, unless you want to leave a few real eggs in there, i wouls leave the wooden ones so they don't go look for a new nest and start a game of hide and seek.. lol..
i'm in the same boat right now... 1/11 laying... 7 others should be starting anyday within the next month.. lol.. and then i have 3 that are a bout 2 months behind them...
good luck with yours

 

[chicks4kids]

I put 2 golfballs in each nest box and leave them. I have 11 girls that are in the process of starting to lay, and once they all are laying, I'll probably leave the eggs in just for encouragement...so they don't try to lay somewhere else in the coop...

My older girls who have been laying for a year don't seem to mind them at all.

 

[koifarm]

I agree on leaving them in the nest box, kind of keeps the ladies regular and laying in the same place. I do have a towel covering two of the nest boxes and I think that helps since we keep the ladies in the pen until about two hours before dark. It's better to lay eggs without 17 pairs of inquisitive eyes watching you while sitting.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I also just leave the wooden eggs. I find it encourages them to continue laying where they find what they believe to be eggs. It might also have another affect of having a hen turn broody, but I don't mind that either, from time to time, as I am terrible with the incubator. In addition, I happen to be from a very warm climate and we have a lot of snakes. If a snake happens to get into my coop and swallows a wooden egg (which they do), I promise you he might have gotten in, but he won't be able to get out. The egg will not fit through the chicken wire. That means one dead snake and a lot of saved eggs and chicks.
btw.....I am a certified penny pincher and am first to admit it. I was too cheap to purchase golf balls or wooden eggs from a poultry supply place. I googled wooden eggs and found some at a craft supply outlet online and bought two 25ct bags for less than I would have for a dozen "wooden eggs." We put a protective finish on them and I dropped 3 eggs in each of my 6 nesting boxes and have most of them inside, waiting to be needed for something.

 

[evonne]

lol.. i was wondering about if they'd be cheaper atthe craft store... it's funny how you'll see the difference in prices of the same item in various trades...
i'm not sure what it's called, but the tape they use on the horses?? well it's like $3 for a 3" roll at the feed store... and in all kinds of pretty colors...
go to the drug store and a 1/2" roll same length costs you $4.. and in boring old white.....
go to the beauty supply store and get the same stuff in 1" width same length, for like $12 rofl...
i go to the feed store and cut the roll down for whichever purpose i need it...

has anyone ever tried filling a plastic egg with anything and putting it in a nest??

 

[rhoda_bruce]

guilty........I did it about 10 years ago and I still find them in my old coop area. I filled them with mortar mix. It didn't come out as easy as I had hoped. Some came out eventually, but one in particular still has ancient plastic on one side and concrete on the other. It was still a good idea, but maybe something else would have worked better than concrete.

 

[ksct]

i have BO's that will lay brown eggs... I currently have white golf balls in their nest boxes... not to ask a dumb question but would the wooden eggs work better. Do they care or do they just need something in there so they know what to do?
And if the wooden eggs would work better where do you get them?