plastic easter eggs...

[v.cyr]

in another thread I had asked about encouraging broodiness, and someone mentioned that a full nest could trigger it... since I would rather not risk actual eggs while waiting for it to work( our roosters are a little too inquisitive for me to think that leaving the eggs in the coop is a good idea), I was wondering if plastic easter eggs would be enough to fool them until one went broody and I could make the swap with the hatching eggs... or would the chickens be able to tell they are fake( by the weight, maybe?)... I have heard of using wooden eggs, but the plastic ones are much easier to find and considerably cheaper...

 

[JulieNKC]

My broody sat on a bunch of golf balls until she got real eggs under her. If you are worried about the weight you could fill them with sand or something.

 

[Squirrelgirl88]

I have two plastic eggs in each nest box - it's working wonderfully! I did use darker eggs so they could see them well. Blue, purple, hot pink etc.

silly chickens.

 

[Faith Hope]

I use plastic easter eggs. We found they work better if you fill them with sand; we also taped them shut so we wouldn't have sand everywhere! I leave 1 or 2 in each nest box. When I put 6 to 8 in a couple of nests this spring, I promptly had 2 dark cornish go broody -- I don't know if it was a coincidence or not. (It could have been them seeing and hearing the baby chicks I bought from a hatchery, I don't know.) But all the girls like to lay in the box with lots of eggs!

 

[v.cyr]

so, filled with sand, they would fool the hens... the golf ball avenue may be a better one for me though... I may be able to get some for free...