Chicken acting very strange

[WillaAndRyan]

HEy everyone, i have 10 chickens and it being the middle of summer they all find ways to stay in the shade. Most of my girls lay under their raised nesting boxes where there is plenty shade and good air flow, although they get alittle crowded together but they dont seem to mind. Anyways one hen has decided to stay under the shed, of which i can imagine gets very hot with little air flow. Today i forced her out and blocked her way in, she then started acting extremely strange. She was running around , stopping to rub her head on the ground. She kept returning to the entry point rubbing her beak in the dirt. Her face is very pale and she looks almost insane.

I unblocked the entry point, but to my surprise she didnt rush back under. She has alot of eggs down there that she lays on but i am unable to get them, I'm afraid to stick my hand under the shed to get them because we have seen a few black widows around our house and yard.

Should i keep her blocked out or just concede and let her be? Has anyone else expirienced anything like this?

 

[WillaAndRyan]

We also turn on a misting hose on during the mornings and afternoon for 20 min. to cool the ground and air.

We would keep it on for the whole day but it would flood there coop

 

[WillaAndRyan]

 

[GitaBooks]

Chickens act like this when they are either broody or have a favorite laying sight. I have a leghorn that calls to her eggs and runs around desperately to try and get into the pen that has her nest in it, but she never goes broody.
Broody chickens will also do this. They like secluded areas and will try to find a way back to their eggs. They will get very pale, I think as a way of showing roosters they are broody. Broody hens will also fluff themselves up, fan their tail, and warn away roosters.
She probably chose her sight well, it shouldn't be too hot.

If you don't mind having chicks than you can let her be. If, however, she is just laying down there because she likes it, I would suggest finding a way to get the eggs out so you can collect them regularly. I have a lot of hidden nests that I collect from. It takes a good memory to remember where all of them are

 

[WillaAndRyan]

ok thanks, we dont have any roosters, so i will just get the eggs out of the area she is in. Your description was just like my hen, and is good to know for the future

 

[Debbi H]

I know this is an old thread, but thought I'd weigh in for anyone else coming across this. Just concerning the eggs under the shed: If they aren't fertile, they will never hatch, obviously, and if that's the case, they are going to rot! And if it gets hot enough, they'll explode and stink! Yuck!
So if you don't want her sitting on them, the way I get eggs out from under our deck is to gently pull them out with a rake. I kind of use the back side of the rake so I don't accidentally crack any of them and then just pull and roll them out slowly.