Chicken staying in nesting box but not laying

[jlopez12]

Hello,
For the past 3 days my Black Australorp has been acting strange in her behavior and physical appearance. She lays in the nesting box for the entire day but is not laying eggs. I thought she was becoming broody as I experienced with my Rhode Island Reds, but with my Reds I was able to quickly stop that behavior by moving them out of the nesting box. However, this is not working with the Australorp. Every time I open the nesting box, she puffs her feathers up and makes a low screech. She is missing lots of feathers on her back and breasts which I believe she has plucked out herself. When I take her out of the box and place her on the ground she remains puffed up and agitated. When she decides to eat, she keeps clucking as if she was being attacked. She keeps clucking like she's upset with something and remains low to the ground when walking. She has not layed any eggs within the past week, is not egg bound (I checked everyday), gets along with all the other chickens, gets plenty food and water, is protected from predators and gets to free range all day! She has lost some weight already and continues to act strange. I have never had any problems with her until now. All thoughts and ideas are greatly appreciated! Thank you

 

[Mace Gill]

She sure sounds broody to me. They'll pluck their own breast feathers out when going broody to create a 'brood patch' for warmer skin to egg contact. The growling and puffing up all sound natural broodiness to me too.

 

[woodenfarm]

To me from what all i have read about broody chickens she might be one and a stubborn one that it going to take longer to break of it.

 

[Fuzzyclucks]

I third the broody comment.
I've only happen to one of my hens, and we set up the dog pen for her on the deck. A couple of days in there and she came right. Good luck

 

[woodenfarm]

I hope I don't get a broody hen it would be very hard for me to stay strong to break her......

 

[Mace Gill]

I hope I don't get a bloody hen it would be very hard for me to stay strong to break her......

Or ... if the eggs are fertile ... you could let her hatch a clutch

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC @jlopez12 !

Yep, she sure sounds broody, as others have already deduced.

You'll need to decide if you want her to hatch out some chicks, and how you will 'manage' it.
Do you have, or can you get, some fertile eggs?
Do you have the space needed? She may need to be separated by wire from the rest of the flock.
Do you have a plan on what to do with the inevitable males? Rehome, butcher, keep in separate 'bachelor pad'?
If you decide to let her hatch out some fertile eggs, this is a great thread for reference and to ask questions.
It a long one but just start reading the first few pages, then browse thru some more at random.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/496101/broody-hen-thread

If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly.
My first experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day.

I let her out a couple times a day(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.
Water nipple bottle added after pic was taken.

 

[jlopez12]

Thank you all for your responses! Here's an update:
She's still broody and ten days have already passed. I think I will try out the dog cage to try and break that new habit of hers. Two days ago I introduced a 17 week-old Rhode Island Red rooster into my flock along with 5 other hens and I don't wish to have any more chicks for a while!

 

[JessRae]

I have a pulley that is 9-10 months old that is staying in the nesting box but still laying. She’s been fluffed up and allows me to move her. When I moved her today I noticed she has almost no feathers on her breast. None of my other pullets are acting this way. After reading, I’m thinking that she is broody but someone else told me she’s acting this way because she’s too hot?! It’s been in the low to mid 30s at night and was roughly 50s the last couple days. Does she sound broody or too hot? I’m thinking of just letting her stay for 21 days and see what happens as I do have roosters. Help!

 

[aart]

I have a pulley that is 9-10 months old that is staying in the nesting box but still laying. She’s been fluffed up and allows me to move her. When I moved her today I noticed she has almost no feathers on her breast. None of my other pullets are acting this way. After reading, I’m thinking that she is broody but someone else told me she’s acting this way because she’s too hot?! It’s been in the low to mid 30s at night and was roughly 50s the last couple days. Does she sound broody or too hot? I’m thinking of just letting her stay for 21 days and see what happens as I do have roosters. Help!

Never heard that one. The bare patch is to increase skin contact to keep the eggs warm for hatching.
Sounds broody to me....these are my go-to signs:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

If you want her to hatch, you'll have to do some managing.....like giving her all fresh eggs on the same and mark them so you can remove any others laid by other birds.