# Broody hen pushed eggs out



## leahg123 (Nov 26, 2014)

I had a BO go broody and sat on the eggs for 7 days. Today I went out to check on her and I saw two eggs sitting on the ground under the nesting box, and she is sitting on a different nest. It's about 100 degrees outside. I'm guessing she has been off the nest for a few hours. Should I gather the eggs and make her a new nest in a dog crate or somewhere safe? Did she simply get confused or did she give up on her clutch? Of the two eggs on the ground, one was all yolk and one was developing. Thanks.


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## CountryMom22 (Nov 27, 2014)

I haven't had that problem so I have no advice, but I'm sorry your hen is giving you trouble.

I hope someone here has an answer for you.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

When my broody hen did that, the eggs she pushed out were spoiled. I marked them and put them back, but she kicked them out again and then even I could smell the bad odor. 

Why don't you give her back the eggs she did NOT push out of the nest?


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## leahg123 (Nov 26, 2014)

Well that's the problem...She left the eggs in the nesting box and started sitting on another nest. I don't know if she just got up to eat or drink and accidentally sat on another nest? I didn't touch the other eggs. So it sounds like I need to physically move her from her new nest back to the old one.


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

leahg123 said:


> Well that's the problem...She left the eggs in the nesting box and started sitting on another nest. I don't know if she just got up to eat or drink and accidentally sat on another nest? I didn't touch the other eggs. So it sounds like I need to physically move her from her new nest back to the old one.


You have not said, but sounds as though she is in with other chickens/hens---if So it is common for a hen to get off the nest to do her due----while she is away another hen sits in her nest to lay a egg----she comes back---being her nest is taken she takes another one. The other hen leaves the nest----her developing eggs die. I solved this problem by moving All my broody hens to a private pen which only has 1 nesting box.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I had a duck that occasionally would push good eggs out of a deep nest. I had to search and find the bad ones. Once the bad ones were removed she stopped pushing eggs out. 

I don't know how to make her sit on her original nest.


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

They have better senses than we do when it comes to picking out the bad ones. A "good" broody will pick the same eggs out over and over. They are bad, or she thinks they are bad, makes no difference, because she won't incubate them. Not all hens are "good" broodies, they kick out too many eggs, eat eggs, leave nest, etc. If they are not in a pen by themselves, it's anybody's guess. They will do what Fire-Man said, and sometimes the broody hen will fight to get back in her nest while another hen is trying to lay, eggs will get broken, and you just have a big mess.


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## Targe (Sep 14, 2014)

I second what Barnbilder said.


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

I will add, I have had 52 broody hens in the last year---out of 50 that have hatched Not one Egg has ever been pushed out the nest and I have had a few that were not fertile in all those eggs, in the last 20 years I do not recall ever having a egg pushed out the nest either---guess my chickens are different, but its probably the way my nesting boxes are built.


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## FarmerKat (Jul 3, 2014)

I don't have as much experience as some other here but I had one broody who would go sit on other eggs if she found them. (Mine are in the coop with other birds.) So I just made extra effort to pick eggs multiple times a day and - if needed moved her back to her eggs. There were at least 2 times when she left her eggs for a few hours (I was not home). The chicks hatched fine but they hatched on days 22 & 23, not 21. They are doing great. Obviously, if you are not home most of the time, this is not practical and I would separate her.


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

They can leave them for a good while sometimes. My asil, which are all on their second brood, some on their third, usually pick out a few bad ones. They have some really good hatch rates. One hen goes so far as to eat hers. She will eat, like one or two eggs during the course of incubation, with a full feeder all the time. My guess is that she doesn't want a rotten egg lying around, as much as anything. I have candled behind these birds before, now I just let them take care of it, they can candle as good as I can. I have gone "completely off-grid" with hatching and brooding. I don't have to worry about power outages, drafts, extension cords, heat lamps or any of that mess. Small batches of ten or fifteen chicks hatching out don't have coccidian problems. I can move small mobile pens farther away from power sources, to cleaner ground. Much easier to do small purebred batches of different breeds. My cabinet incubator is collecting dust.


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## leahg123 (Nov 26, 2014)

Cool, I like hearing everyone else's experiences. Interesting development though, we came back home after being gone for 24 hours, and found a chick, alone, in the barn, with the rooster standing over it (I assume protecting it from the barn cat). The broody BO has only been on these eggs for a week and some change, so...this guy must have come from another nest, hidden somewhere. I went to check on Mrs Broody BO and now there are three broody hens, all trying to share the same nest. The other hens are an Ameracauna and a Leghorn, neither of which I've heard make good mothers. Sounds like I definitely need to separate, eh? 

Back to the mystery chick- all the hens have been roosting at night so I have no idea where it came from! Is it possible for eggs to hatch themselves when it's so hot?! The highs have been over 100 and the lows briefly dip down to 80 over night.


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## FarmerKat (Jul 3, 2014)

Does your broody BO still have the same number of eggs?


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## leahg123 (Nov 26, 2014)

I can't tell yet...didn't want to disturb her since there's tree broody mamas in there now screeching at me when I approach. I saw an eggshell out in the yard (likely brought there after hatching, by cat or something) that looks like it's where this chick came from.


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## Fire-Man (Apr 30, 2005)

leahg123 said:


> Is it possible for eggs to hatch themselves when it's so hot?! The highs have been over 100 and the lows briefly dip down to 80 over night.


There is probably a .0000001% of that happening. For a egg to stay somewhere for 21 days or longer in this case---where it can keep warm enough to stay a live----Hmmmm. Maybe you got a hidden hen----this chick hatched first---mom still on the nest----this one got hungry and left Mom to look for food???


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