Teleporting eggs

[debid]

Several days back, I peeked in and saw 3 out of 4 nest boxes in use. I thought that was pretty great. When I went to collect the eggs later, 3 eggs were in one box in a tidy, warm cluster and a fourth was in another. Odd, but I figured the other girls moved into that box as it became available because they like to lay next to another egg. The next day, I checked in the morning and saw Maggie's pink egg in one box and Hazel sitting in another. I was on my way out so I left it to get later. When I got home, Maggie's egg had moved to the same nest box as Hazel's -- a two-box place shift. So, I knew that I'm not crazy, the other eggs are somehow moving to wherever Hazel lays her egg. Hazel has since taken to sitting before and after she lays her egg for HOURS. I'll see other hens go in other boxes and lay and if I don't collect their eggs promptly, then I'll find Hazel sitting on their eggs along with her own. She was getting off the nest when I brought the kitchen scraps or let everyone out for range time but today she skipped her range time to sit there. She's not sleeping in the box so clearly not broody (yet?) but I guess I now know that Hazel's eggs are not really magnetic -- Hazel is moving the eggs so she can sit on them for a little while. Silly chicken.

 

[gryeyes]

I have SEEN a hen move eggs. She put her head and neck across the egg, so she could use her beak to tuck the egg under and into her breast, holding it there whilst she got OUT of the nest over the lip, and over to the adjacent nest box, over ITS 2 inch lip, and into that nest.

Here's a photo of Buffy moving a light green egg back into the nest; she'd taken them out during the hottest summer days and moved 'em back when the heat broke. She hatched that egg, which was laid by Rebecca. That egg became my very first GrandChick.



I think your girl is practicing, and that only happens as her hormones rise. She's gonna go full broody, I bet!

 

[Farm_Maven]

That is a "too cool" pic!!

 

[debid]

What an amazing shot! Somehow, I was imagining a wing-tuck rather than a chin-hold. Either way, my nest boxes are organizer bins on a shelf so she's carrying the eggs over those 5" walls somehow

I'd love to catch her in action just to see it.

 

[tom e]

That's great! Talk about right place at the right time! I'd never believe it if I weren't seeing it now, lol. They are so crafty.

 

[5Leepy!]

oh, wow! Now I know how it's done! Thank you for this...

 

[Beka123]

Oh! That just seems so crafty and smart and motherly for a chicken! I know they're not stupid, but that just seems so clever...! I always just imagined a beak-roll across the ground. What a great pic!