Possible broody and free ranging

[5littlechicks]

We have been letting our chickens out to range but last week they were out most days because their coop area was flooded from recent rains. This morning one of the red sexlinks escaped from the coop area while my daughter was feeding them. She ran immediately to a tall grass area. My daughter followed her and saw 4 eggs before she squatted on them. She then laid a 5th and left the area. She is now roaming with the rest of the flock. Only 2 of the 5 eggs were hers as the others were lighter in color and smaller. My questions are 1) Could she possibly be going broody? This is the first time we have found eggs outside of the nesting area. 2) Should I leave them there or collect them and store them waiting to see if she is going broody? I'm not sure how long they were there and I would love for her to hatch them (we have a rooster). If I store them, where, how long and how? I am in Florida and we are already up to the 80's during the day. Any advice or suggestions appreciated. I have thought about moving them to a broody nest and seeing if she will continue laying in there.

 

[Johnn]

We have been letting our chickens out to range but last week they were out most days because their coop area was flooded from recent rains. This morning one of the red sexlinks escaped from the coop area while my daughter was feeding them. She ran immediately to a tall grass area. My daughter followed her and saw 4 eggs before she squatted on them. She then laid a 5th and left the area. She is now roaming with the rest of the flock. Only 2 of the 5 eggs were hers as the others were lighter in color and smaller. My questions are 1) Could she possibly be going broody? This is the first time we have found eggs outside of the nesting area. 2) Should I leave them there or collect them and store them waiting to see if she is going broody? I'm not sure how long they were there and I would love for her to hatch them (we have a rooster). If I store them, where, how long and how? I am in Florida and we are already up to the 80's during the day. Any advice or suggestions appreciated. I have thought about moving them to a broody nest and seeing if she will continue laying in there.

I don't think she is going broody. A lot of my hens lay away too. A sign of her going broody would be her sitting on the nest for longer and maybes even over night. I would take the eggs away if I was you, Red sex links don't usually go broody but if you want to try and encourage her too you could leave golf/ping pong balls in the nest.