****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
We have 4 Buff Orpington hens that were due to start laying around the end of July/first of August, and I had read about using decoy eggs to help train them to use their nesting box. Ceramic eggs seemed to be popular, but some people complained that their chickens would peck them and chip/break them. I decided to go with these rubber eggs, which I paid a bit more for because of the durability. I placed one in the nesting box, along with a Lil'Clucker washable chicken nesting pad, which I also will review, hoping the ladies would use the box, and the eggs would stay clean, and not get broken/cracked. These were ordered July 8, delivered on the 12th. This has worked well, the hens have been using the box consistently, and the eggs have been clean. One hen has pushed the rubber egg out onto the ground a couple times, but I just wash it off and put it back. In the attached photo you can see one hen on the left, partially hidden by the "privacy curtain" handkerchief, the rubber egg to the left of her, and the rear of another hen on the right, who climbed in to join her, as they were both ready to lay at the same time. I have had good luck with the egg/nesting pad combo, and would buy both again. I don't worry about the egg getting broken, and another bonus is that the rubber eggs is easy to identify. Ceramic eggs are often hard to tell apart from the real ones, according to some buyers.
