broody hen rejecting certain eggs?

[aggiemae]

We have a broody Buf Orp. We are discouraging her now but might let her sit if she goes broody in spring. She is doing something I think is weird. Yesterday afternoon I went out to gather the eggs and found both two chocolate brown eggs laid by my Maran hens on the coop floor and the Buf in the nest sitting on 4 light brown eggs. This afternoon when I gathered the eggs she was in the nest box again with five light brown eggs under her. There was one chocolate dark brown Maran egg and one dark brown speckled Wellsummer egg (broken and eaten) on the coop floor.

Could she possibly be sorting out the eggs that look different from her own? Or different from the majority of the eggs?

I plan on getting her some Maran eggs to sit if she goes broody in spring. If all the eggs where dark brown will she reject them all or sit on them since they all look alike?

 

[lilypad]

How interesting! Have you got any other coloured eggs (blue or green maybe?) you could pop underneath her and see what happens?

Maybe she thinks they're chocolate eggs and doesn't want to melt them

 

[Judy]

Usually when they do this, it's because they sense something is wrong with the egg. I've never heard of one being disturbed by different colors of eggs.

 

[aggiemae]

How interesting! Have you got any other coloured eggs (blue or green maybe?) you could pop underneath her and see what happens?

Maybe she thinks they're chocolate eggs and doesn't want to melt them

The eggs are not fertile. We only have light brown and very dark brown eggs. She did it again this morning, this time it looks like she pecked the egg.

 

[citychicken0981]

Two days ago I put three French black cooper maran and three silver penciled rocks under my buff orp that has been broody for at lease two weeks. this morn i went out to make sure everything was good and she either was trying to move them or she rejected them completely. she wanted nothing to do with the maran eggs all three silver penciled eggs were still there and one of those had two little cracks in it, like she tried to bite it or pick it up. Things I noticed- the golf balls that i had been using under her untill i purchased fertile eggs were still in the coop but on a shelf for later use. i think she was trying to move the eggs to the golf balls but im not sure. so i also notice there were still two eggs left exactly how many golf balls that i had under her since the start. This is the first time having chickens let alone having a broody hen so any advice would be greatly apperciated ty

 

[lizgarf]

The eggs are not fertile. We only have light brown and very dark brown eggs. She did it again this morning, this time it looks like she pecked the egg.

Maybe she doesn't like the hens that laid them.