Hens go broody when you don’t want them to… and won’t go broody when you do. 
Back in February, on the President's Day holiday, I lost a ring with great sentimental value in my backyard (AKA the chicken yard). Frantic searching in the days following yielded nothing, even with the use of a small metal detector. Friends assisted in the search, and everytime I was in the yard doing anything (so everyday, since the chickens are out there), I would keep my eyes to the ground ready to pounce on anything shiny. It was only recently that I accepted the loss (although my eyes were still generally to the ground when in the yard) and stopped feeling for the ring on my finger.
On Saturday afternoon (3 1/2 months later) I was checking the nesting boxes and sitting there on the edge of the nesting box, pretty as a picture and sparkling, was my ring! I KNOW it wasn't there in the days prior - I'm in the coop daily, and the girls don't like a lot of bedding in their nests, so it wasn't buried in bedding. (I had pulled out and sifted all the bedding right after I lost the ring anyway.) I know birds can be attracted to shiny things, but has anyone else ever had something like this happen? I could have kissed each and every one of my girls when I found it, as it seems to me like one of them must have found it in the yard and placed it in the nesting box.
On Saturday afternoon (3 1/2 months later) I was checking the nesting boxes and sitting there on the edge of the nesting box, pretty as a picture and sparkling, was my ring! I KNOW it wasn't there in the days prior - I'm in the coop daily, and the girls don't like a lot of bedding in their nests, so it wasn't buried in bedding. (I had pulled out and sifted all the bedding right after I lost the ring anyway.) I know birds can be attracted to shiny things, but has anyone else ever had something like this happen? I could have kissed each and every one of my girls when I found it, as it seems to me like one of them must have found it in the yard and placed it in the nesting box.
