Will she learn eventually?

[K0k0shka]

I have a broody that keeps going back to the wrong nest after taking a break. She's been sitting for 5 days now, the last 3 on real eggs. At first I thought maybe she hadn't made up her mind where she wanted to sit, but then I noticed that she just isn't putting a lot of thought into it - if her nest has somebody else in it, she'll just sit in the other nest, and if both nests are empty, she'll sit in the first one she sees, closest to the door (which is not her nest). I only have a handful of hens and 2 nests, so it's not like I have 20 nests and it's hard to remember where she parked! I can't keep moving her or her eggs around. And lucky for her I'm still working from home and able to check on her via the coop cam, and move her around every day so her eggs don't get cold.

In your experience, do they eventually learn and remember which nest is theirs, or are some of them just too dumb to do that? This hen is 2 years old, and yeah she's a first timer, but last year I had a different hen who was barely 1, also a first timer, and she always went back to the same nest and was a great mom. Is there any hope for this one? Or should I just fence her in so she can't get to the other nest?

 

[sourland]

Fence her in so that she can not leave that nest. That way you are guaranteed as to where she will be setting. Good luck for a successful hatch.

 

[K0k0shka]

Fence her in so that she can not leave that nest. That way you are guaranteed as to where she will be setting. Good luck for a successful hatch.

Thanks! That's my last resort, I just wanted to see if there's any hope not to have to do that. I like that at least she's diligent about not taking too long - she goes outside, eats drinks poops and comes back in. The one from last year, who knew where to sit, had a different issue - she would take too long hanging out outside (one time she was out for 3 hours!) She would've been a good candidate for being fenced in too, actually. So I wanted to "reward" this one for going in promptly, by letting her go out because I know she won't be long, and she can use the exercise. But maybe not I'll give her a couple more days and if there's no improvement, I'll have to fence her in.