What comes first broodiness or egg nest???

[Mchicks]

Just recently I discovered I have an EE that has been laying her eggs in the corner of the coop and hiding them under the shavings. Yesterday, I found 5 in her corner. I removed them but today I found a new egg there.

Nesting boxes are clean and she had laid there in the past.

Is she preparing to go broody or will these eggs go bad if I leave them there???

I was always under the impression that they lay a clutch of eggs and then sit on them but I have never had a broody hen or hatched eggs

 

[chrissynemetz]

Is she staying on the nest she made day and night, or is she still getting up and going about her business?

 

[Mchicks]

Getting up and going about her business. But... I was always under the impression they don't sit until nest is full??

 

[centrarchid]

nest -> egg laying -> broodiness

Egg number in nest does not initiate broodiness. Something internal to bird laying stimulates broodiness,

 

[SueT]

Is she low in the pecking order? She may be choosing a new egg laying area because the others are forcing her out. She will not necessarily go broody.

 

[centrarchid]

Some in lay will relocate nest because eggs keep disappearing. Relocation process not perfect.

 

[aart]

Getting up and going about her business. But... I was always under the impression they don't sit until nest is full??

Not always. If a bird is broody, it doesn't matter what's in the nest.
I'd collect those eggs daily.
...and if you want to try to 'bait' her into going broody leave a pile of fake eggs.

 

[chickens really]

Yes. If left they lay a clutch and then if Broody they will begin to set. All hens prefer to lay in their favourite spots. Are your eggs fertile? A Hen determined to brood will go Broody on an empty nest too. They also steal other hens eggs and carry them to their nests.

 

[Peppercorngal]

Chickens are interesting and very independent! She may just be rebelling against the nest boxes. I have a hen (Maggie) who gets broody frequently. When she is not broody she WILL NOT lay her egg in a nesting box used by any other hen. She has one that only she uses and I collect her egg daily from that nest. The other hens will share a nest, I usually get 3 to 9 eggs out of the other nests that are used. Rarely is there only one egg. When Maggie gets broody, she doesn't get to leave eggs for days and then start to set. Because I take them daily, she will set on one egg only. Once I realize that she is broody I then give her other eggs, not just her own. You may want to take some twelve inch pieces of 2x4 and nail a little box together for her. Set in on the floor in "her" laying spot and see if she uses it. If so, you pretty much know that she doesn't want to use the boxes that the other girls use. Good luck trying to figure out the mind of a chicken!!