Chicken constantly looking for nests, singing egg songs, but no eggs?

[Lyris]

(not sure if this belongs here or in illnesses)

Gretchen is a Rhode Island Red hen. Last year she laid her eggs with no problems, then took a break for fall/winter. All my other hens have begun laying for the spring/summer again except her. She likes to follow the other hens to the nesting box and pluck at the nesting materials. She's often looking for a nest throughout the day, but will never settle. If I accidentally leave the door open she likes to come in and try to nest in my dryer or on my counter. Sometimes when she's there she will sit for a while, sing an egg song, and go outside. The rest of the day she behaves as if she really did lay an egg and is calmer, but there's no egg where she was nesting. I've even caught her pushing like she's trying to pass an egg. If she doesn't lay her pretend egg then she acts like she needs to lay until all the other hens have finished for the day. Currently she likes to go find a tall spot in the yard and sing her egg song for everyone to hear. If you give her a fake egg she will coo at it and tuck it under her, then instantly leave. Twice I've found what appears to be the remnants of an egg in the nesting box after she's left. No shell, just part of the yolk. Once my chicken expert friend felt a soft egg inside her, but when she came back a week later she was empty inside. No bound eggs or anything. I never did find where the soft egg went or if she laid it.

For a while I suspected she was turning into a rooster since she's my top hen. My friend was noticing how she's got little nubs for spurs, but we don't know if they're new or not. Comparing her old pics to now, she's also a bit glossier around her neck, and lately her neck feathers have a backwards swoop to them. It's possible she developed the swoop feathers after she molted last year and I just didn't notice, or when she got a bath for mites a while ago. It's been a month since we discovered the spurs and feathers and nothing has changed since. We've also had a respiratory infection but it hasn't affected egg laying in any of my other chickens.

My other hens are getting tired of having an audience while they nest. How come she hasn't started laying again? Can I convince her to lay? Why is she obsessed with bothering the other hens while they lay? And why does she pretend to lay an egg? She's always been a little weirdo who marches to the beat of her own drum, but this is bizarre. I'm getting tired of trying to convince her that she can't nest on my counters or in my dryer. It's a constant fight with her. Any ideas?

 

[Debbie292d]

Do you have an oyster shell dish she/they have access to?

If so, you still might want to give her a calcium boost. You could give her one of your Calcium + D pills or a Tums once daily. I'd do it for two or three days.

 

[Lyris]

Do you have an oyster shell dish she/they have access to?

If so, you still might want to give her a calcium boost. You could give her one of your Calcium + D pills or a Tums once daily. I'd do it for two or three days.

Late reply - I've been out of cell range for a while. (Backcountry road trip!)

They have access to oyster shells, but they won't eat them. They free-range the yard during the day and seem to prefer whatever they find out there. They do have access to food and scratch, and plenty of dinner scraps. I'm already medicating one hen, I can give her some calcium as well. The other hens have incredibly strong eggshells at least.

she's beyond obsessed with coming inside. It's incredibly frustrating and I hate it. She's frantic about it and will spend all day trying to get it. Yesterday I gave up and let her in. She made a straight line for the dryer and honked at me until I opened it. She promptly jumped into it, kicked around a bit, and sat down to lay her pretend egg. Less than an hour later she went outside, found the tallest piece of wood in the yard, and happily sang an egg song up there for the world to hear. You'd think she was a rooster crowing. She settled down and had no interest in coming inside for the rest of the day. Weirdo.

 

[Debbie292d]

This is indeed the strangest hen I've ever heard of!

Perhaps a vitamin deficiency of some sort? Do you have any poultry vitamins you could try on her/them? I put Poultry Cell in their water a couple of times a week if I hear one sneeze. I don't take chances so I'm pumping them up with vitamins often.

The other thing about the oyster shell, I have breeding pens with a dish for the oyster shells mounted in the same spot in every pen. One pen, untouched. The next one, nearly empty in two weeks. They all eat the same thing. Ours get Kalmbach's Flock Maker, which is higher protein, but lower calcium, so I have to put it out for them. It's just bizarre how some seem to need it and others don't.

I'd leave it yours out, though, as suddenly one day, one might feel the need.

 

[comickook]

I had a hen which developed some rooster characteristics. She grew big spurs and a saddle on her back. But no long tale feathers or change in her comb. I called her Chimeria, and she was a Buff Orpington. Never laid an egg, but was always on the top of the coop as lookout!

 

[Lyris]

This is indeed the strangest hen I've ever heard of!

Perhaps a vitamin deficiency of some sort? Do you have any poultry vitamins you could try on her/them? I put Poultry Cell in their water a couple of times a week if I hear one sneeze. I don't take chances so I'm pumping them up with vitamins often.

The other thing about the oyster shell, I have breeding pens with a dish for the oyster shells mounted in the same spot in every pen. One pen, untouched. The next one, nearly empty in two weeks. They all eat the same thing. Ours get Kalmbach's Flock Maker, which is higher protein, but lower calcium, so I have to put it out for them. It's just bizarre how some seem to need it and others don't.

I'd leave it yours out, though, as suddenly one day, one might feel the need.

Again sorry for the slow reply. I immediately got sick after coming home. I'm only now getting up and around again.


Here's the weird thing. She laid an egg the other day! It wasn't a very good egg. It had a weird red indentation on it and a ton of calcium buildup. She laid the egg, wandered outside like nothing happened, and then five minutes later came screaming back inside like she needed to lay another egg. She nested in my dryer for another thirty minutes before heading out for the day. Yesterday she kept jumping at the sliding door in a sheer panic. I opened the door and she came literally running in and went straight to the dryer. She began pecking at it in a near frenzy until I opened it. She jumped in and got straight to nesting. A while later she hopped out and went outside to honk (she's a Rhode Island Red and is very vocal) and was fine for the day. No egg. Today she doesn't seem as interested in nesting, but it's still early.

Yes, she only nests in my dryer. I have no idea why. She hangs out with the other hens when they lay and knows where the nesting boxes are. She's just a bit extra.

I had a hen which developed some rooster characteristics. She grew big spurs and a saddle on her back. But no long tale feathers or change in her comb. I called her Chimeria, and she was a Buff Orpington. Never laid an egg, but was always on the top of the coop as lookout!

Mine is absolutely the top hen. She has successfully defended the flock from two raccoon attacks. My bantam rooster avoids her. If he acts naughty she casually drifts towards him until he ends up in a corner. If my other hens are fighting one will go stand by her and the fight is done. I've never seen her attack the other chickens, but she doesn't budge. She's passive aggressive in her bullying. Taking their food, casually drifting towards them until they move.... My black sex-link tried for top hen and it was an intense passive-aggressive battle for a while. My RIR won in the end. She's also incredibly self assured and marches around like she owns the place.

Her neck feathers definitely have a swoop to them now, and her feathers look glossier. She's got little nubs for spurs instead of them being flat. I thought hens only turned into roosters if they stopped laying eggs due to internal damage or something. She's still got hen instincts, although she's definitely meaner. (She now attacks sick hens instead of being supportive of them)