I've got a two year old Rhode Island Red hen that I believe is broody. We call her our "Rogue" because she was adopted from a friend whose entire flock was taken by predators, except Hazel. He allowed them to free range at all times and did not lock them up at night. I have never been able to keep Hazel in our run. In fact, she has taught some of the other girls how to jump the fence, and led them to explore territory (like across the street) they had never shown interest in before. She always used to return to the coop every night, though she tried to roost on top of it a few times. About a week ago, she didn't return to the coop at bedtime, and I didn't see her for several days. I assumed her adventurous ways had caught up with her, but then this morning she showed up! When the other girls saw her and approached, she made a wierd noise, almost like a cat in heat. Her feathers were all puffed up and unkempt. I gave all the girls some yoghurt, which she dove into, then she disappeared again. I suspected that she had been laying her eggs in the hedgerow, since that's where she headed every morning, and my egg count was down. I had my boys chop it down, and sure enough, we found two spots with a bunch of broken egg shells. My theory is that she wanted a nest away from the other hens, but 'coons found it, scared her away, and ate her eggs. I don't have a rooster, so those eggs would never have hatched anyway. Now I need to figure out how to lure her to a safe place to be broody. I'd love to have her hatch a few eggs. I'm thinking, if I can get some fertile eggs and get her to sit on them, in the safety of our garden shed, this story might have a happy ending. Thank goodness whatever got her eggs didn't get her... So what do you folks think? Might my plan work? And how do I convince an extremely independent chicken, that the garden shed is a good place to hatch some chicks??