Broody keeps getting back in the wrong nest!

Good question. Same thing happened to one of my girls 2 nights ago. I did the same thing. I picked her up and put her back in her nesting box. She was just fine. Maybe someone will answer that question, so we'll both know. Cross our fingers everything will be ok.

 

I had a hen do that. She did it quite a bit and the original eggs underneath her never hatched. She was also impossible to get un-broody so I tricked her and gave her eggs about to hatch and she was finally sucessful.

 

You can also try to move her and the eggs to a dog crate or other place away from the rest of the flock.

 

It is very important that she is separated from the flock and is put in her own nest. If you can't, remove her at night and put her in a unique roomy nest in the corner of the coop. This way, when she comes back from eating, she can distinguish her nest from the others. Just remember, if she is bothered by other hens frequently, it can result in cracked eggs or abandoned nests. I totally recomend seperating her from the flock.


~Rio

 

I had a broody that did the exact same thing - every single day. I would find her in the wrong nest, and the eggs in HER nest were cool. I gave her zero odds of pulling off that hatch. But she did it! She hatched out five chicks at day 19. I was SHOCKED.


In hindsight, I wish I had separated by broodies. The other hens constantly got in their nests and laid eggs. I marked the original eggs they were setting on, so I could easily remove the new eggs each day, but the broodies were constantly bothered by the other hens. The one that kept leaving her nest would jump off if another hen got int here with her and fussed enough. And then once the chicks hatched, I had to relocate the whole brood because the nests were high enough that the chicks couldn't get back in them when mama first too them out. THAT was a pain and didn't go well.

So..... after all that typing, I'm just trying to say don't give up on those eggs. They may just be ok. And I would separate the broody with her eggs to give her some peace and to encourage her to stay on her eggs.

Best of luck!
Penny

 

Mine is on plastic eggs, I hope to finially set her up tonight. I thought about letting her on the nest but the box she picked is the favorite one and not only do the other hens squawk at her, they lay when she gets up. The other day I opened the door to let them out in the yard and she was out for over an hour so that settled it that I have to separate her. Also when the chicks hatch they will need to be separated so I figured I may as well take care of the whole thing now. I dont know how long they can be off, Ive wondered that myself.

 

I had one do that, but by the time I found out, the eggs were COLD, so I tossed them (she'd only been sitting on them for 3 days) and gave her fresh eggs. To keep it from happening again - I moved her (nest and all) to a dog crate, so she only had one nest to go back to.

 

I am having that problem too! I penned her in, because she is in the nest boxes I build on the floor just for brooding. But she is still getting out. I have caught the eggs feeling cool SEVERAL times, but they were only cold once.

I am going to keep them, because they are due on Saturday or Sunday, so I don't want to trash them now. Next time I plan to do a better job penning them up.