The convenient access to your eggs is very normal. I m from the Netherlands and we all build our chicken coops like this. The fake eggs are to get a hen brooding. Some chickens will only do that when they see a bunch of eggs. In some cases the hens dont lay their eggs at the wanted place, and you can "show them" where it should be done. Personally I dont use them, my chickens usually all lay in one nest. So if there is a hen who wants some cute little chicks she ll just brood her own egg with the ones from the other chickens.
My only experience with a chicken coop was 35 years ago at my grandparents farm. Her coop was more like a very small barn that you went into to retrieve the eggs from the boxes.
This is some good insight! How do you manage to keep squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, etc from laying waste to your hard earned fruits and veggies? I have a framed and chicken wired raised garden box, but that can only fit like six or so cucumber plants before the space would be completely filled up. Eventually I'd like to try to expand and have multiple raised garden beds, or just till in the open yard, but I worry about the voracious nature of the New England rodents that constantly inhabit my yard.
They stay in the pond all winter. The aerator runs all winter and there’s a small area around the aerator that doesn’t freeze so they always have oxygen.
