Egg Bound or Broody?

[corliss]

I have a two year old Australorp who began sitting on the nest box yesterday and stayed on for several hours. I wondered if she was egg bound although she really didn't show any other symptoms and gave her a warm bath. She ate heartily after this and produced a large poop but immediately after being put out in the coop with the others, she climbed back in the nest box even though it was after dark.

This morning she was still in the nest box so I took her out and gave her another, longer warm bath. She seemed content to go back outside and pecked and scratched for a while in the yard before preening for about half an hour.

Tonight she is back in the nest box and I'm wondering what is going on. I have fake eggs in there and they are all tucked underneath her but I don't think she has laid for a day or two. Her tail is up, she is eating and seems alert, not listless so I am at a loss to figure out what is going on. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[sourland]

She's most likely broody.

 

[MollyAngel]

She's probably broody. When my BO goes broody, I have her walk around outside and I give her lots of love. There is really no other way to stop them that I know of. Do her feathers bristle when you go near her? Yolanda, (the BO) makes all her feathers stand on end. I suppose that a fluffier chicken is slightly scarier that a flat chicken!
This is Yolanda and Six in the box. Yolanda is a large puffball in this picture.

 

[willowbranchfarm]

She is like the others said broody.

 

[K-12 Chickens]

Usually when hens are egg bound, they constantly stand up and push in an attempt to pass the egg(which is what they do normally too, except they pass the egg in less than a minute). If your hen is constantly returning to the nest box and doesn't appear to haven't have any problems involving an egg, she is most likely broody.