14 Y.O. Hen sitting in a nest box like she wants to lay. I am perplexed.

[haemony]

This is so strange. I have a 14 year old EE hen (Stevie) who hasn't laid an egg in almost a decade suddenly sitting like she wants to lay.

She has not shown any interest in laying or in the nest boxes in that long. She has never been broody.

For the past few days she been fussing around the nest boxes. This morning she rolled an egg out of the only unoccupied box, left the egg on the floor and is now sitting in the empty box.

Stevie is otherwise sharp and in excellent health. She behaves just like the rest of the flock.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? Is she tripping? Is it even possible for her to make an egg? I have no idea if she has ever laid a lash. I saw no evidence of it and assume (perhaps incorrectly) that it would have happened many years ago.

 

[azygous]

Yes, it's possible the old girl will actually lay an egg after all these years. That ovary may have just woken up and decided to show its stuff. It could happen.

But don't expect a splendid normal egg. Chances are all she'll get out of her efforts is a "fairy egg". This usually has no yolk, just a tiny bit of albumen, and may be no larger than a robin's egg.

What causes this out of the blue? Probably an irritant in the oviduct is mimicking a yolk, it gets surrounded by albumen, and then it is small enough to get a complete shell in the shell gland.

We'll be waiting to see this prize when she's all finished with her project.

 

[haemony]

Thank you so much for the reply. This is very helpful.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I like what @azygous said.
It is also possible she now wants to raise a family in her old days.
Some hens will decide it is time if she sees other hens' eggs in the nest.
That is a bird thing, not a mammalian thing.

 

[haemony]

I like what @azygous said.
It is also possible she now wants to raise a family in her old days.
Some hens will decide it is time if she sees other hens' eggs in the nest.
That is a bird thing, not a mammalian thing.

Possible. Stevie has always loved chicks and raised a few broods of her own way back in her day. I see no other signs of broodiness though.

She is still fussing around the nest boxes and sitting in one sometimes. I don't think she has laid an egg. She seems fine otherwise so I am no longer as highly stressed about it.

I have chicks hatching next week in the incubator. If she wants them, she can have them.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I was given 2 old hens from a friend who was moving away. I had a young hen who hatched out 2 baby chicks. After 2 weeks of raising chicks, she got bored, and went back to sitting. The old hens took over, and raised those babies each adopting one chick. I told my friend about it, and she said those hens had never raised chicks before.

 

[Shadrach]

I had a ten year old hen called Fat Bird who hadn't laid a proper egg in a year or so and who had never sat and hatched do exactly the same. Some of my Catalan chicken keeping friends say such hens make the best broodies.
I think hens of this kind of age know that they may not have long to do what nature intended and that is to reproduce.