Moving eggs

[chickmashnoon]

Okay guys, I'm really curious about this cause I thought I was loosing my mind. My girls have three nest boxes in a row, and they all really like the one near the wall. Of course this causes issues with someone being a nest hog and fights break out as to who gets the chance to sit in the favorite nest. So I thought I'd encourage them to like the other two nests by putting the dummy egg in the other two. I'd move it in the morning when I collected eggs and when I came home it would be moved into the favorite nest. Again, I'd place it in the farthest nest, and I'd come back later in the day and it would be back in the favorite nest near the wall. If my husband didn't work with me I'd assume he was moving it, but I swear it's the chickens. But HOW? How do they pick it up? cause they can't roll it over the dividers. They must be picking the egg up somehow in order to transport it to that favorite nest.

Anybody got any ideas? Or is someone pulling a prank on me?

 

[cmom]

I use golf balls and have had the same thing happen with the golf balls. ???

 

[Fierlin1182]

What a mystery! I'd love to see if someone on here could come up with an answer. All I can add is that I've seen chickens move some pretty darn heavy stuff. If they could somehow roll the egg high enough to tip over the divider (maybe helped with some of the bedding or stuff in the boxes?) it would be easy to do.

 

[chickmashnoon]

I checked for tiny tyranosarus arms and hands under their wins but no luck and now they are peeved that I ruffled their feathers. I know they are hiding something cause they never move it when I'm looking.

 

[Fierlin1182]

Quote:

Cheeky little devils, mine are sometimes like that too.

Good luck, I hope you find out what's going on soon!

 

[kbreak]

My hen that was free ranged. No coop ever. Roosted in the tree. She moved 12 eggs from the woods up a hill and placed them in a pile like they were in a nest close to the house during hurricane. We had gotten alot of rain .Had to have moved them a long way. We had not seen her for about 8 days we actually thought something had gotten her. So we were suprised to see her in the yard that day. Really surprised when I went out the back door and there was 12 eggs in the yard. We thought we were doing so good got hay and put in small pet carrier in the same spot where she had put them but I guess we broke her broodiness. She never went in to them. She went back to her roost in the tree. When we disposed of the eggs they were all babies with feathers/ fuzz close to hatching. She started laying again this time at the base of a tree by our dog pen. She laid 11 and hatched 6 that are now 6 weeks old. She a good momma !! So now I am addicted.
Someone told me that a chicken can somehow tuck them under her wing to move the eggs. That is the only way she could have moved these eggs as far as she moved them. No way she could have rolled them thru the woods and up a hill.

 

[chickmashnoon]

Okay! That's probably what they are doing then, and I have one I think is half broody- as soon as spring hits I'm gonna let her be momma. I think it's her that keeps moving that dummy egg. under the wing, huh? so I wasn't too far off looking for stubby dino arms

Yep, there is no way it could roll over to the next nest, much less two over. She's got to be carrying them somehow and under the wing sounds do-able.