Hen(s) keeps moving eggs?

[AshleyB]

We bought 3 laying Brahmas and a Brahma roo about 2 weeks ago. The hens are laying an egg a day, and we keep noticing that the eggs are moving. When my husband goes out to feed and let them out in the mornings, he always checks the eggs and waits to let our girls get them later in the day. We have noticed several times that an egg has been moved to a different nesting box. There are 4 nesting boxes, and they have never laid in 2 of them.

This morning there was 1 egg in a box. Whenever we went to put the chickens in for the evening, there were 3 eggs. They were all in a makeshift nest one of them has made in the little common area joining the nesting boxes. Why are our chickens moving their eggs? We haven't seen any sign of broodiness that we know of, though we are still pretty new to chickens and still don't know how everything works. But none of the hens stays on the nest for an extended period of time. They just lay and go about their business. Why would they move their eggs into one nest?

 

[gardendufus]

I have no answer for this. I'm trying to picture hens getting an egg out of a nesting box without damage (are these flush to the floor?), moving them to the side, and then LIFTING them into a new box. My pullets aren't old enough to lay yet. Maybe I need to lower their nests which are now about a foot from the floor.

Maybe the bump will get someone more knowledgeable than me to help you.