Why does she keep leaving her eggs?

[tn_artist]

I have two bantam Cochins that started setting eggs at the same time. Ebony is steady and fierce, but calm. Scrunchie is, I think, a bit featherbrained. Every day, she ends up of her nest. She gets up to eat and goes back to either the nest with fake eggs, or a nest with one or two eggs just lain. Sometimes I suspect she gets run off by someone wanting to lay an egg in her nest, but I haven't caught it happening, just the extra egg or the fact that Scrunchie is in the wrong box.
She should be on day 11, but who knows if any are still alive, plus, of her for eggs, one is missing. They were marked so new eggs could be collected.
I'm thinking of swapping her eggs for fresh ones, but how do I keep her on the right nest?

 

[aart]

This is why many choose to keep the broody segregated by wire from the flock.
And why many do not let more than one set at a time.

Might consider breaking the flaky one, because.....
"39 chickens and 37 chicks. I think I'm in trouble. "

 

[tn_artist]

This is why many choose to keep the broody segregated by wire from the flock.
And why many do not let more than one set at a time.

Might consider breaking the flaky one, because.....
"39 chickens and 37 chicks. I think I'm in trouble. "

It is the best kind of trouble though. Six of them are about to go to freezer camp, and some of the babies will go eventually, either to the freezer, sold, or gifted. I'm trying to up my Cochin and d'Uccle game, but can't keep them all, and love the OEGB for their antics and lesser feed bill. We will not be getting any more standards.
If she gets off again, I may just take them and break her.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've had that happen before and still got great hatches. When I find her on the wrong nest I just move her back to the right nest. Sometimes those eggs would be really cold to the touch. It's not necessarily the end of the world but it is certainly frustrating and worrying. Most of my hens don't do that but if a hen does it once she's likely to do it again. As I said, even when it happens I tend to get good hatches.

Brinsea advertises that some of their incubators can be programmed to cool the eggs each day. They claim studies have shown that helps hatches. I'm not convinced it really helps, most of the studies they quote talk about geese more than chickens, but that at least implies it doesn't hurt that much.

I think what happens with mine is that when the hen returns to her nest another hen is in there laying an egg so she gets confused so she goes to another nest. When most of my broody hens get back to another hen in the nest they just hop on in. But life is never dull with chickens. I don't lock my broody hens away from the flock but in your case that might be a reasonable approach.

A couple of things. You said both broody hens started at the same time. From what I've seen that kind of stuff does not affect when the eggs hatch. If she has room you could give all the eggs to the one hen. She needs to be able to comfortably cover them all.

Or you can isolate that hen. Maybe candle the eggs and see if you want her to continue them. Unless you isolate her so she has no choice but to go to that nest I would not give her fresh eggs.