I keep a few chickens for the eggs. They always produce more than we can eat and the overflow is generally given to relatives or friends. I let mine out early in the morning for 4 or 5 days the keep them in until mid afternoon on the other days. This keeps them in the nest boxes. Never had any complaints and store bought eggs cannot compare to the fresh eggs. Did notice that when I went on vac for two weeks, I kept the chickens up and fed them processed feed, that the eggs lost their bright color and looked just like the store bought eggs. Took a couple of days to get them back on the outdoor feed.