Chicken Crying when I took her eggs and nest?!!

[FlyWheel]

Silly question, when you removed the box that she had been laying in, did you think of putting it inside the coop? Or at least some of her eggs? If she's that concerned about her clutch it might get the message across. Or at the very least she might prefer to stay with her clutch (in the coop) rather than start a whole new one in the old spot.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

@rebrascora Well, if she was broody she would be missing all day every day with only a short show up to eat is why I didn't suspect her to be broody. And yes, she won't lay eggs still if she has gone broody. Which is why I did mention broody behavior, because to me... that wasn't it.

My broodies will go back to their same spot and sit on air even... until I employ the broody breaker. They care not how many eggs are or aren't there. And they have a puffed up broody demeanor when they come out of their brooding stations. Clucking loudly and chasing off anyone who comes in their zone while they are out. But other than pecking and the loud shrill warning they make... they never walk around announcing to the community that something has just happened or is about to for hours. They are focused on getting back to their nest.

Other than that... Awesome keeping your eyes open for all possibilities!

You are right, just because it may not be common for a certain breed to do something, the fact is that no matter what breed... ALL are individuals! And that being said... not ALL broodies will act exactly the same as the ones I have. And what you say is true... there could be more pullets laying their eggs under her. I see it everyday at my place. Even my broody with chicks goes and sets on eggs with her chicks!

This girl only sat on eggs a week before she hatched chicks!

But the two girls I had to break recently sat and sat for more than a month, their bodies were very thin compared to any non broody. Took a while for me to learn... tried giving them eggs but they kept going back to the wrong nest. Tried taking eggs away, didn't matter. Tried removing girls from nest several time a day to no avail. Finally got the guts to try the broody breaker... 1 week before eggs hatching in my bator. 1 girl broke the first night the other took 3 days. Luckily my 3rd silkie, still in good condition went broody just in time to raise some chicks. She was sooo happy!

We still have 10 in the house, but the 4 she is raising (all I though she could handle) are doing great! Thanks for letting me share that, it's been so special.

In the op post it says there was an egg laid at the original nest site after 3 hours of fussing... doesn't actually say the hen stayed and sat on it.

And with 32 current layers... I have seen many a girl who was late in the day to lay and stayed in the box overnight, just to vacate as soon as morning came and the egg was laid. Yes they made me wonder... but the eggs actually come a little later each day (in my experience) until the last day is a late lay & maybe no egg the following day but with a really early morning egg on the 3rd day, if that makes any sense. I have had these late lay occasions with my PBR, EE, OE, FBCM many breeds... SO, don't take me as saying "you are wrong", because that's not what I mean at all! I think there are many possibilities, including the one you raise. And only shared the late lay as more info on your possibilities.

The flock dynamics are ever changing! And we change with them.

My birds get accounted for every evening before lock up. Though I realize we all have different ways of doing things. I'm a NEED to know type person.

But to the OP.... I don't think you have to worry about your girl having a mental break down or being scarred for life over the incident. What she did was a natural response. But chickens and most (not all) other animals are pretty good about moving forward after something semi traumatic happens to them. I'm hoping to get me a couple LF WCBP girls this season as I value white as one of the color pallets in my egg basket and the variety of eye candy they have to offer to my pasture is fantastic.

 

[parsamanesh]

Hey, thanks for all your input guys, this is helping me understand her behaviour a lot more!

She went and stayed in that gap prepared to spend the night, she wasn't laying any eggs, just ready to sleep @rebrascora, as soon as I discovered the nest and eggs, I removed them and she kept returning looking for it, she kept running back and forth to the spot where the box was constantly making loud noises for 3 hours, sorry I hadn't made this clearer in my original post.

Unfortunately I haven't paid attention to counting the chickens each night so I'm not sure if she's been sleeping in the box without me realising whilst the others are in the coop

 

[bobbi-j]

@EggSighted4Life Ah! Thanks for that. I can now see where the misunderstanding is.....Still not sure if it is mine or everyone else's...probably mine!

The way I read this is that the OP kept taking her off the nest and she was screaming and running back and this process went on for 3 hours, not that she was running about screaming for 3 hours, but that each time within the 3 hours that the OP was removing her from the nest, she was running straight back to it.

The other thing that isn't clear is when the OP states that she wasn't in the coop at dark and found her in a gap next to the summer house. "Laid there" may suggest that she had laid an egg or as I assumed that she was lying or laid there in the gap....to me if she is lying in a spot next to where her nest of eggs has been removed and tucked up there for the night, that suggests she is broody and that is her chosen spot. I agree, if she has laid an egg there then she is clearly not broody....it's all in how you interpret the OP's wording,,,,

@parsamanesh

Can you clarify if she laid an egg in the gap next to the summerhouse after you removed her nest, or that shy was lying in the gap prepared to spend all night there.


Can't believe it is so easy to read the same words and come to two very different conclusions.

Therein lies the problem of trying to communicate over the internet....

 

[rebrascora]

Thanks for the clarification. So you moved the box with her nest in it and she was running back and forth between it and the location it had been in. If she is not laying eggs but wanting to sleep in the location where her nest was, then to me, that suggests she is broody.
What have you done with her?.... Left her to her own devices or put her in the coop and if so has she gone back to roosting or is she sleeping in a nest box or frantically pacing to be out?

Do you have a rooster?

Have you cracked open the eggs you found?

If she is broody and you don't want to hatch any chicks then the kindest thing to do is to break her of her broodiness. Confining her to the coop might be enough to do it as she is clearly very imprinted to the site next to the summerhouse, but if she starts to set in the nest boxes or elsewhere, then placing her in a wire bottomed cage chocked off the ground for a few days should cool her down and break her....research "broody buster cage".

Good luck with her.

Barbara

 

[rebrascora]

@bobbi-j

Quote: Yes indeed you are right, although misunderstandings can also occur through spoken word via telephone or in person too of course.

I thought it was very odd that people whose opinion I greatly respect were not even mentioning broodiness as a possible explanation, when it seemed so likely to me.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I mentioned my polish hen a few posts back. Polish don't act like other breeds. I could not break my determined little hen from laying where she wanted to, she always found a way and was quite sneaky about.

Polish seem to squawk more than other breeds when disturbed or upset due to their decreased range of vision. Polish are also known to jam their heads in places and pretty much play possum when frightened, so I assume that's why her head was jammed in a corner.

That has been my experiences with polish hens, they act differently than other breeds. My white crested act different than the laced varieties, but all are a bit off in behaviors.

 

[pattyhen]

I have read and reread this post and I'm as clearly confused as the chicken. In my opinion the chicken was broody and I would say in not a safe place outside of the coop. Your chickens should be counted before you secure the door for their safety. If you would have carried the box back to the coop and gave her several eggs she would have probably stayed in the coop.

 

[bobbi-j]

@bobbi-j

Yes indeed you are right, although misunderstandings can also occur through spoken word via telephone or in person too of course.

I thought it was very odd that people whose opinion I greatly respect were not even mentioning broodiness as a possible explanation, when it seemed so likely to me.

I understand that. When I read that she "laid in the gap" I just filled in the blanks in my mind and figured she laid an egg. I likely added 2+2 and came up with 5. I do that on occasion.

Yes, misunderstandings can also occur through spoken word. For me online is hard because one can't read tone. I can read something - anything - on different days and take it totally different each time, depending on my frame of mind. If I'm in a good mood, I'll read it as something positive. If I'm beating myself up over something, I'll read it in a way that I see as disparaging to myself. You get the picture.

 

[EasterEggDrew]

Why not just move her favorite nesting box a few feet closer to the coop each day? After a week, you could have it alongside the others.