How to Make an Egg Shovel, for the times your hens didn't use The Nesting Box!

Are you new to Chicken Keeping? Recently we discovered two caches of eggs laid by our young hens outside of the nesting box...although we are not experts in any way, we thought it would be fun to share what we have learned about keeping chickens, like how to make an Egg Shovel! From the DIY Homemade Household side of life!

 

Surprise, look what I found!

This cache of 28 eggs was found deep in the lilac hedge that separates our property from the neighboring tract of land. Even as inexperienced as we are in keeping chickens, we knew something wasn't right about no eggs to gather. Since hens lay (about) every other day, there simply were not enough eggs in the nesting boxes to equal what we should be finding each evening. 

Plus one of our Black Speckled Rock hens was missing at coop closing time.  I usually go out after sundown when it is just beginning to get dark. The hens do a good job of getting themselves comfortable in the coop, taking their places on the roosting boards we have installed. I am able to take a quick headcount to make sure I am not too early before closing the coop for the night. But for a few days we were missing one  hen... 

My concern was that she had walked off or worse, had become dinner for a hawk. Then the next day my husband came in from working on the garden beds and said he saw both of the Black Speckled Rock hens in the yard. That was good news, but where was she bedding down at coop closing time?

Again that night at lockup there was only one... it was not until we found the cache of eggs did we realize that she was now sleeping with the eggs to keep them warm and was never away from the yard at all! We gathered the eggs and disposed of them.

 

I think the only thing more stubborn the me, is this hen!

The area where she nested was an open area in the back of the lilac hedge, and unless you were hunting for it, you would never spy the cache of eggs! We placed a large rock in the open area hoping she would stop nesting and laying her eggs in this spot.  

I know some hens do not like nesting boxes, and they will continue to lay where they want! When I went out this morning to patrol the hedge for the possibility of another egg being laid, this is what I found...

At this point there was only one thing to do, I needed to make an Egg Shovel so I can collect the eggs that the hens lay outside of the nesting boxes. Because in all probability this will most likely happen again...and my arms simply are not long enough. This morning's discovery is a pretty good indication I won't really be able to change her, so I might as well make it easier to collect the eggs. Enter my homemade Egg Shovel. 

You will need the following items:

• gorilla tape
• a long-handled metal or other large bowl kitchen spoon
• a leftover handle from a garden tool or a piece of doweling

To assemble, lay the metal spoon on top of the wooden handle so that the bowl of the spoon is above the top of the wooden handle. 

Using the gorilla tape start wrapping with the tape from the top, going downward to secure the spoon to the wooden handle. 

The finished tool will look something like this, depending upon the supplies you have used.

To use, gently reach in to where the egg is and with the Egg Shovel and scoop up the egg. 

My Egg Shovel sits with my other garden tools right by the coop! Something tells me, I will most likely need to use it again.

UPDATED: 05.12.2025

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