Chicken Pranks

[Awaytome]

I think my chickens are playing pranks on me.

I'm a newbie with chickens and have a small flock of five Bielefelders around a year old. They've been keeping me busy searching for eggs since they started laying, so I've put ceramic eggs in a couple of nests to encourage them to use them.

A few days ago one of the ceramic eggs was on the coop floor, knocked out of the nest (there had been three ceramic eggs in the nest), and two real eggs replaced it. So I put that ceramic egg in a different nest above the other nest. This morning all the ceramic eggs were in the same nest, so one of the chickens removed the egg from the upper nest and put it into the lower nest with the other ceramic eggs and a couple of new real eggs! Is this kind of egg housekeeping a common behavior? I've been laughing about it all morning!

 

[Rock17]

I think my chickens are playing pranks on me.

I'm a newbie with chickens and have a small flock of five Bielefelders around a year old. They've been keeping me busy searching for eggs since they started laying, so I've put ceramic eggs in a couple of nests to encourage them to use them.

A few days ago one of the ceramic eggs was on the coop floor, knocked out of the nest (there had been three ceramic eggs in the nest), and two real eggs replaced it. So I put that ceramic egg in a different nest above the other nest. This morning all the ceramic eggs were in the same nest, so one of the chickens removed the egg from the upper nest and put it into the lower nest with the other ceramic eggs and a couple of new real eggs! Is this kind of egg housekeeping a common behavior? I've been laughing about it all morning!

They have chosen their nest

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Yeah, that happens. One pushes the egg out, and another will pull it into their nest. I've even seen videos of hens stealing eggs from other nests. Sometimes, when I have hens fighting over a nest, it's sometimes due to there being eggs in the wanted nest.

Now, the real question is when you have eggs in the bottom nest that suddenly end up in the top nest. Some hens will move eggs by keeping them tucked in their wings and will carry them to other nests. This is why when you move a broody, you should always check under their wings before moving them.

 

[Awaytome]

I had no idea chickens were such interesting (and entertaining) characters. They are always surprising me with something.

 

[Ridgerunner]

This is why when you move a broody, you should always check under their wings before moving them.

I killed a baby chick that way when I lifted up a broody hen to see what color chicks she had hatched. I'll still move a broody hen if I need to but I'm a lot more careful. Some chicks like to crawl up there.