Rogue Eggs

Today its raining on the Cape.  It has been cloudy all day with occasional showers from the skies.  I went to check for eggs this afternoon and I found Dolly and Autumn both sitting in adjacent boxes.  Dolly was sitting on two eggs and Autumn was sitting on air.  Then in front of the nesting boxes, lay 2 rouge eggs.  The buff Orpingtons were also in the coop.  They went back and forth, staring at the two Silkies in the nesting boxes then staring at the eggs.  They must have been thinking, " Not this again!".  Funny, the same thing crossed my mind.  Yes, I had been waiting for Autumn to become broody since she was the last of the Silkies that had yet to this Spring.  However, Dolly is now, once again broody.  This will be the fourth time since December.  She was an excellent mother this Spring, but as Chocolate is no longer with us, her chances at motherhood are no more.

So, how do rouge eggs get there anyway?  I am not sure what exactly happens.  I guess this is where a coop cam would come in handy!  Sometimes these eggs are warm and sometimes they are stone cold.  Sometimes they are the Silkie eggs and sometimes they are from one of the larger girls.  They are never broken and I have been finding them everyday for the last 5 days.

I have seen the broody girls attempting to roll eggs from adjacent nesting boxes into their own.  I also have seen the chickens higher up on the pecking order, evict the broody hens from their preferred nesting box when they are ready to lay.  Could it be that sometimes the hen that is ready to lay her egg clears the nesting box of any preexisting eggs?  All I know, is that there is an awful lot of confusion over these rogue eggs from the Buff Orpingtons and myself.  I wonder if this mystery will ever be solved?