The fact that golfballs are not eggs?
I have three broodies who I've moved to a private pen to prevent the other hens from laying more eggs in the clutches I'll be giving them or from accidentally breaking eggs when they try to share a box with the broodies. Now.. usually, I'll move them at night so they'll instantly settle in their boxes (although in the past, I used dog crates). This time, I decided to set up the pen and put nestboxes in it. In the past, putting decoy eggs for the broodies wasn't necessary, they'd settle in the crates and happily brood the shavings. Today, they just weren't settling, so I decided to put in some decoys to give them something to focus on.. So I bought some cheap white golfballs and put them in.
Apparently, I put in aliens or something because my main broody hen, a columbian wyandotte, who's hatched multiple broods and is a wonderful mother just kept walking over and poking them and finally moved to sit on the roosting pole that was still in the pen. So I nearly panic.. the eggs I ordered are arriving tomorrow and I wanted the future-moms to be settled before I gave them their clutches. Now they're going to decide not to be broody anymore!? Apparently, she passed her doubt to the other two because they wouldn't even LOOK at the pseudo-eggs. In a panic, I pulled the golfballs and put in real eggs (their own that are unfertilized because I have no rooster). Suddenly, the world was right for them, they hopped right into the nestboxes and started arranging the eggs to their liking and such..
So.. does anyone else have hens that apparently recognize that golfballs and fake eggs are not real?
I have three broodies who I've moved to a private pen to prevent the other hens from laying more eggs in the clutches I'll be giving them or from accidentally breaking eggs when they try to share a box with the broodies. Now.. usually, I'll move them at night so they'll instantly settle in their boxes (although in the past, I used dog crates). This time, I decided to set up the pen and put nestboxes in it. In the past, putting decoy eggs for the broodies wasn't necessary, they'd settle in the crates and happily brood the shavings. Today, they just weren't settling, so I decided to put in some decoys to give them something to focus on.. So I bought some cheap white golfballs and put them in.
Apparently, I put in aliens or something because my main broody hen, a columbian wyandotte, who's hatched multiple broods and is a wonderful mother just kept walking over and poking them and finally moved to sit on the roosting pole that was still in the pen. So I nearly panic.. the eggs I ordered are arriving tomorrow and I wanted the future-moms to be settled before I gave them their clutches. Now they're going to decide not to be broody anymore!? Apparently, she passed her doubt to the other two because they wouldn't even LOOK at the pseudo-eggs. In a panic, I pulled the golfballs and put in real eggs (their own that are unfertilized because I have no rooster). Suddenly, the world was right for them, they hopped right into the nestboxes and started arranging the eggs to their liking and such..
So.. does anyone else have hens that apparently recognize that golfballs and fake eggs are not real?
