Broody hen confused?

[bumpercarr]

Okay, I have a broody hen and she is partial to the second deck, second from the right nest box. I went to gather eggs the other night, and she had decided to move over to the first box on the right where the new eggs were laid. Do you think she might have been confused when coming back from eating/drinking and not known which box was the one that she was sitting on? After I took the "new" eggs away, she went back to the previous box, but I dont' know what to do to keep her off of the box where the other hens are laying. Any thoughts? I would really rather that she hatched out the eggs that she started with.

 

[Judy]

Many people separate a broody while she is sitting because it's not unusual for them to return to the wrong nest. Also, they will move eggs around, try to get in a nest with a broody which can break the eggs, and so forth. Once the eggs have hatched, you can put her with the flock. If you don't separate her, all you can do is mark the eggs to be hatched, and rearrange things when you are in the coop as needed.

 

[bumpercarr]

Many people separate a broody while she is sitting because it's not unusual for them to return to the wrong nest. Also, they will move eggs around, try to get in a nest with a broody which can break the eggs, and so forth. Once the eggs have hatched, you can put her with the flock. If you don't separate her, all you can do is mark the eggs to be hatched, and rearrange things when you are in the coop as needed.

Good advice. I'm not really set up to give her a separate area to sit in, so I will just have to try to encourage her back to the correct box when I catch her in the other one. I've only caught her in the wrong box two times and based on the temperature of the eggs, I'm guessing is was only for less than an hour. She's determined to brood and I'm okay with that, but I would really like her to stay where she started. I think all of the other hens are fine with laying somewhere other than where she is (although she really is cranky, so they may just be avoiding her). I've only found broken eggs one time and I assume that is when someone tried to lay on top of her. I'd like to see her hatch some of these eggs out and then maybe try to encourage her next time to a different box. No hope of that this time, she's pretty set that she's going to sit on the eggs in the house where everyone else is laying. At the beginning of her broodiness, I moved some of the eggs into her box and she immediately tucked them under her which I think is a good sign. She's the first broody hen I've had, so I'm really experimenting with what to do with her. All advice is welcome!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Flockwatcher gave good advice.

My broodies hatch with the flock all the time. It’s important to mark the eggs and check under her each day and remove any new eggs. As long as you remove them daily, they are OK to eat.

I’ve had what you are talking about happen a few times, not many. I think when the broody hen takes her daily constitutional she finds a hen on her nest laying an egg so she goes to another nest. When I see her on the wrong nest I just move her back to hers. One time her eggs were stone cold to the tough. She still hatched 11 of 11 so don’t panic if this happens to you.

Something you can maybe do to stop some of that is to fix her nest so you can lock her in there and other hens out. Then once or twice a day, open it up and throw her out. She should eat, drink, and poop before going back to the nest. A broody often gets off the nest just once a day anyway so you are not being cruel. Do this when you are around to make sure she goes back to the right nest. This may take 15 minutes or it may take her more than an hour if the weather is hot.