Collecting your fresh eggs is one of the greatest joys and excitements of chicken keeping. They’re just so darn tasty, and we love the anticipation of going to the nesting boxes and seeing how many we've got today!
So how frequently should you collect the eggs? Well, the optimal frequency is everyday, for a number of reasons.
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Discourages egg eating: If the eggs are left in the coop for too long, sometimes an overly inquisitive chicken might peck at it. This can lead to the incredibly annoying habit of egg-eating! Collecting the eggs everyday minimises egg-eating opportunity for your flock.
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Discourages broodiness: Another annoying habit that hens can develop is broodiness, where they will sit on eggs (fertilised or unfertilised) and try to hatch them. If the eggs are left in the nesting box, there’s more chance the hen will sit on them - and she’ll be quite moody when you do come and try to take the eggs away from her! If your hen has gone broody, here’s some information on how to deal with her behaviour.
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Less chance of damaged goods: The longer the eggs are in the coop, the more of a chance the chickens might accidentally step on or crush them accidentally. So collecting the eggs frequently really does minimise risk!
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Collecting the eggs everyday also helps you keep track of which are fresh, especially if you go through eggs as often as we do! There’s nothing worse than mixing them up and finding that you’ve let one go bad!
If you can only get to collect your eggs once every few days, why not try our Roll-A-Way Nesting Box Inserts? It slides under the nesting box, so that when your chicken’s have laid their egg, it gently rolls away from where prying beaks and eager feet can get to them - leaving them safe and snug for you to collect at your next convenience!
