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

[rebrascora]

@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!

Quote:
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.

 

[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.

 

[rebrascora]

Yes, I know what you mean, especially about your state of mind, having an influence on how you perceive something you read, but also on how you word things yourself. I edit and reedit on a bad day before I click "submit" and still occasionally don't convey the right tone.

 

[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.