Broody or Egg-Bound...or maybe getting ready to molt??

[DavidSLynch]

I have a little Booted Bantam D'Uccle who has stopped laying and is hanging out in the nesting box - not for the entire day, but for a fair amount of time. Sometimes, she's on top of another bird's egg, sometimes there's no egg (I do my best to remove the eggs quickly so it doesn't encourage brooding, if that's what she's doing). I think she spent the night in the box last night.

She lets me remove her and doesn't act as protectively as other brooding birds usually do - she doesn't peck me when I pick her up.

In the run she is still perky, moves quickly, and is eating normally. Her tail does not appear to be droopy, though her feathers are initially fluffed up when I remove her and she goes into the run.

I know what to do for either malady, but I don't want to subject her to a warm water bath if it's the wrong course of treatment. Perhaps an ice pack in the nesting box if she's broody.

Or could she be molting? It's late June, though - so it seems a bit early for that.

Any advice appreciated!

 

[sourland]

Sounds like pre broody behavior. In my experience it has been very unusual for bantams to become egg bound.