Broody changing nests!

[Island Juli]

ugh! So frustrating!

She sat on one nest for two days with 2 fake eggs under her. On day 3 I put 2 eggs under her to hatch. Only 2 because it is her first time. She sat all day on them. I go out this morning and she's in the next nest box on 2 fake eggs. The fertilized eggs were cold.

I think I'm going to let her sit on the fake eggs. I have 7 eggs in the incubator due in 2 weeks. If she's still sitting then I'll give her a couple of the chicks.

Wonder why she likes the fake egg more? Two of her sisters have 4 chicks 3 days old, another sister is sitting nicely on 3 eggs due on the 18th.

Interesting that all 4 sisters (just shy of 8 months old) all went broody at the same time.

My two new mommies and their first hatch.

 

[nchls school]

ugh! So frustrating!

She sat on one nest for two days with 2 fake eggs under her. On day 3 I put 2 eggs under her to hatch. Only 2 because it is her first time. She sat all day on them. I go out this morning and she's in the next nest box on 2 fake eggs. The fertilized eggs were cold.

I think I'm going to let her sit on the fake eggs. I have 7 eggs in the incubator due in 2 weeks. If she's still sitting then I'll give her a couple of the chicks.

Wonder why she likes the fake egg more? Two of her sisters have 4 chicks 3 days old, another sister is sitting nicely on 3 eggs due on the 18th.

Interesting that all 4 sisters (just shy of 8 months old) all went broody at the same time.

My two new mommies and their first hatch.

If the two nest boxes look the same your hen most likely just went to the first one that had eggs. I doubt it's a matter of fake or real eggs.

It's a common problem to have broody hens get on the wrong nests. To prevent this I find ways to make those "identical" nest boxes visually different; a cloth draped on top, different nest bedding, a small board placed in front, etc. Chickens are not the brightest bulb in the house, but they can recognize the obvious. Last spring I had two identical nest boxes several feet apart and my silkie managed to get mixed up and ruined her eggs by getting on the wrong nest.