Broody hen gets off nest to drink/eat returns to wrong nest!!

[TOP KNOT]

I have a 25 week old white cochin who went seriously broody!! I gave in and gave her eggs to sit on. She puffs up growls etc. but...returns to a different nest each time she goes to eat/drink. When I am home I can move her back but I will be working through the week. I really don"t have another place to move her to. The nesting boxes are like apartments that all look alike! Her eggs are in the 3rd from the right on top row. She thinks any eggs will do in any place.

I have a shed with hay in it that has a 6' wire door on it. It is pretty far from the coop. Maybe I could settle her in there with one nest box and some food and water. Until she hatches and babies get some size.

 

[Bunnylady]

If she were mine, I think I'd move her to more secure quarters. I've had really rotten luck with hens and chicks in the flock. My chickens are absolute savages; if a chick gets away from its mother, it gets killed by the other chickens pretty quickly.

Of course, there is the chance that moving her will upset her enough to make her stop sitting on the eggs, but if she won't stay put, you're going to lose the eggs anyway, right?

 

[gimmie birdies]

Sometimes it is hard to move your broody they like to sit in a certain area. I think they end up in a diff spot because they come back and another hen is laying an egg in her spot, so she finds another spot to sit, then the other hen leaves because she is not broody. I am always around so if I see this happen, I figure the eggs are warm while the other hen is laying, and I put the momma back after the other hen is done laying. you want to mark the eggs she has set on, and take away any new eggs

 

[TOP KNOT]

Well Monday I moved her to the the shed lean to that I have used to store firewood in to raising my turkeys. It now has 40 bales of hay in it and firewood. I made her a nest behind a bale put in food and water. This shed has a 6' door with hardware cloth on it, so she is safe. Today is Tuesday and she is still setting on her nest. I can see that she got off to eat (scratched up ground) and returned to her new nest! Yay! I guess there can not be nesting choices for her. There probably was another hen in her nest when she returned. (in the hen house where she was) I had marked the eggs with a dot. I had 1 extra. I think these eggs will be ok as it is sooo hot out and she wasn't off too long. If not there are more. When she went broody I choose a bunch of nice sized eggs from my favorite hens.