I have five girls, all 17 weeks old, of the breeds listed in my signature. I was sitting with them in the coop this morning, petting them, talking to them, and just watching them (no...I currently have no life...lol). I have two nest boxes, and I've placed a brown wooden egg in one, a white egg in the other. First my wyandotte starts exploring the white egg nest, making low pitched cooing type sounds, moving the bedding around a bit, takes maybe three minutes, and then gets out. And then my orpington gets in the brown egg box and really goes to town, "purring," cooing, moving the bedding to mostly cover the egg. She was very attentive to that egg. She stayed in there at least five minutes (but never sat on the egg) doing all this. The only one of my girls who has any significant redness to her face is my australorp, so I'm not looking for any eggs until the end of Feb. at least (my guess). It was very sweet to watch, especially my orp. She just seemed very gentle with that wooden egg...lol. Is this typical behavior for pullets...to "practice" nesting???? Thanks!
