tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716575788727832662.post8764437624515685003..comments2023-10-22T08:54:23.218-07:00Comments on The Accidental Farmer (Retired): My $3,500 breakfastThe Accidental Farmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09939230112226415887noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716575788727832662.post-47627414008317614932009-11-30T15:28:32.134-08:002009-11-30T15:28:32.134-08:00Hey, Mark, I just read this. I'm heading back...Hey, Mark, I just read this. I'm heading back out to the Moop with the eggs I picked up the last two days. Thanks for this excellent advice!The Accidental Farmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09939230112226415887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716575788727832662.post-37146530817845178242009-11-29T14:15:48.664-08:002009-11-29T14:15:48.664-08:00Susan, I don't think you have to do the whole ...Susan, I don't think you have to do the whole week-long thing. Here's what I do whenever I have new chickens and I'm trying to get them to use the nesting boxes--or AT LEAST, lay somewhere IN the coop: Don't collect the eggs promptly. Leave them in the nests and let them accumulate a couple-three days. Chickens like to lay where other chickens have laid their eggs. I've never seen them but I've heard there are even fake eggs sold to be put in nests to get new chickens trained this way. <br /><br />Also, if they are like any chickens I've ever had, they'll lay between daybreak and maybe no later than 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon this time of year. So, you should be able to let them out of the moop in the afternoon for at least a little free-roaming and the eggs will be in the nests. <br /><br />With my latest batch of chickens, once I thought I had them trained I began collecting the eggs promptly, all the sudden I noticed my egg production declined. So I stopped collecting daily, leaving eggs in the nests again to show them WHERE I wanted them to lay and, sure enough, production recovered. So, like you, I've got a bunch of eggs out in the pastures somewhere rotting or hopefully providing a meal to some wild critters....Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04131045777276466737noreply@blogger.com