I think my hen is trying to go broody again

[citychicks99]

One of my hens hatched and raised 5 chicks, who are 12 weeks old now and she started laying again recently. We give them the yard to free range and have a nesting box in their coop but the laying hens like to lay outside. There are a few known places the other two hens lay and they're fine with me taking their eggs. But with my broody hen, every time I take an egg, she'll find a new spot to lay. I found her new hiding spot, under a bunch of trees and branches, and she had laid 4 eggs there. I took away 3 so she can keep laying there, so I know where the eggs are at least. I've tried leaving a golf ball in a spot she had laid before but she didn't fall for it. How do I get her to keep laying in the same spot while I'm collecting her eggs? (Besides keeping her confined in one place)

 

[Yardmom]

You are correct that leaving an egg behind makes the odds of her laying in the spot again greater. I have also noticed that hens that have a tendency to go broody are more likely to hide nests. It makes sense that her instinct is to lay in a new spot if her eggs are taken, but most domestic chickens don't react to eggs disappering. It sounds like yours does.