Chicken moving eggs from one raised nesting box to another???

[Possum-Pie]

I have a broody B.O. who we decided to allow to hatch out a few eggs. She was in the center of 3 nesting boxes 14 inches off the floor of the coop with 3 eggs under her. This morning I went out and our bard rock was in that box while the buff was in the next box over. I didn't want the bard to be broody and shooshed her off the nest. There was one egg under her. I took it and placed it under the buff and the 3 eggs were under her! It seems impossible but the buff must have moved 3 eggs down to the floor, and back up into the next box. I can think of no other explanation as none of my 4 hens has laid in the week since the buff became broody so they are not new eggs...Any thoughts?

 

[Shadrach]

I have a broody B.O. who we decided to allow to hatch out a few eggs. She was in the center of 3 nesting boxes 14 inches off the floor of the coop with 3 eggs under her. This morning I went out and our bard rock was in that box while the buff was in the next box over. I didn't want the bard to be broody and shooshed her off the nest. There was one egg under her. I took it and placed it under the buff and the 3 eggs were under her! It seems impossible but the buff must have moved 3 eggs down to the floor, and back up into the next box. I can think of no other explanation as none of my 4 hens has laid in the week since the buff became broody so they are not new eggs...Any thoughts?

Any chance of you sitting out there with a camera in case she moves another.
Yes it is possible she moved the eggs. I know, it's extrordinary but there are enough reports of hens doing this to make it credible. What we don't have is some good pictures or videos of a hen doing this.

 

[Possum-Pie]

Thanks for the quick reply Shadrach. EVERYTHING I read online says it is impossible to do anything except roll with beak/feet but the fact is 3 eggs moved from a nesting box down 14" to the floor, over 14" to the next box, then straight up 14" into the nesting box. I wish I had marked eggs a week ago when they were laid but didn't think about it. I have no camera to set up out there. There must be a less unbelievable explanation!

 

[Shadrach]

Thanks for the quick reply Shadrach. EVERYTHING I read online says it is impossible to do anything except roll with beak/feet but the fact is 3 eggs moved from a nesting box down 14" to the floor, over 14" to the next box, then straight up 14" into the nesting box. I wish I had marked eggs a week ago when they were laid but didn't think about it. I have no camera to set up out there. There must be a less unbelievable explanation!
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I have seen hens move from one nest box to another by rolling eggs. I am led to believe that for longer distances and climbs they roll the egg to their chest and rest it on their crop and tuck their head over it. This is indeed physically possible.
There are reports here on BYC of hens moving eggs.
If this isn't the case with your hen then the only other logical explanation is someone is else has done it. Only you can judge the likelyhood of this second option.

You could of course move one of the eggs she is sat on onto the floor and wait to see if she tries to retrieve it. Get that on film and you will have proven one of the greatest chicken mysteries.

 

[MiddleAmerican]

The hens whip out their opposable thumbs when we’re not looking.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have not seen that myself but there are several reported cases on this forum of hens moving eggs. Some of those I suspect a hen laid an egg in the nest and people didn't realize that could happen so they assumed a hen had moved it, but some of those reports are from people I trust to understand what they are seeing. But those cases are where a hen moves an egg to her nest, not moving a few eggs to a different nest and then sitting in the new nest. That just doesn't sound right.

Shad may have hit on the answer. I don't know your personal situation but could someone have moved them. I could see someone seeing the hen on the other nest and think they are doing you a favor by moving the eggs to her. Or could someone pull a practical joke, that kind of thing has happened before. To me this really doesn't sound right which means there is probably a simple explanation.

You have marked those eggs by now haven't you?

 

[Yardmom]

Has she been sitting a week? If so candleing will confirm if the eggs are the same eggs. Also looking at your picture she more likely reached from the new nest back to the old to get the eggs verses the up and down you proposed. A video would still be neat.

 

[Possum-Pie]

UPDATE:
I grabbed a chair and a book and sat out in the coop for an hour. One of our Austrolorps jumped up beside the buff and attempted to lay an egg in the same nesting box. She gave up after about 15 min, but this tells me that the more logical explanation is that the buff Orpington is setting on multiple other hens' eggs and something ate two of the eggs in the old nesting box. I wish I had a recordable outdoor camera...any suggestions as to a good one ( I DON'T want one that I have to pay a subscription to record to the cloud...)

I candled all of the eggs and saw no evidence of fertilization but who knows how old each one is...I should have dated them from the start. Our rooster is always "dancing" around the hens, but I never see him mounting them so I'm not sure any are fertile.
I WON'T let her sit longer than 3 weeks...it's very hard physically on a hen to sit on a nest.

 

[KRack]

1. It's just my wife and I and both of us were 100 miles away all day yesterday. I have only 2 neighbors, both also have chickens, neither has a sense of humor nor would they enter my coop when I was away.
The only logical explanation (still seems a stretch) is that the buff left her middle nest with 3 eggs, another hen ate 2 of the 3 without leaving a single bit of shell or slime, and the 3 non-broody hens then all laid new eggs in the next box over, the buff then entered that box and began sitting on them. That almost seems more unlikely than the moving of them.

Ok, I'm willing to buy an outdoor security cam to record all shenanigans in the coop, but now I'm trying to figure out what kind. Many have poor reviews b/c you have to pay for a monthly cloud storage service. I just want one that will use my wifi to send video to my pc or phone. I only need a day's worth of video at a time then I can overwrite it. Any suggestions?

I would mark the eggs so there’s no questions about whether or not she’s sitting on the originals. Have you done that?

 

[Possum-Pie]

I would mark the eggs so there’s no questions about whether or not she’s sitting on the originals. Have you done that?

Just marked them today. I'm new at this breeding thing so I should have marked them as soon as I saw she was broody. I candled them today and see nothing but yolk. Not sure if it means it's too soon (all new eggs) or if our rooster isn't doing his duty...