Egg bound?

[SamBeavis]

We're relatively newbies to chickens
Have a little Sussex who laid daily every day around 10am
5 days ago she started spending excessive time on the nest
She was still eating, not lethargic but not laying at her usual time
She continued to lay daily (grtting later and later in the day) until yesterday
No egg
I've given her a few warm baths with epsom salts and gently massaged
She leaves the bath then poops (poop looks normal, no visible parasites)
Then walks around normally for a bit, scratching the earth as usual then hops back to the nest
Have felt gently and can't feel an egg
Have vaselined the exit area
No egg
I'm not sure what I can do.
Do I need vet?

 

[Eggcessive]

She could be going broody or wanting to sit on eggs. Look at her chest to see if she has pulled out feathers, and if some are lying in the nest. Put an egg in front of her, and see if she rolls it under her. Watch for massive stinky broody poops. Broodies tend to stare off into space unless you approach them, when they might growl. Broodies also will run around clucking with their tail in an inverted V shape if you remove them away from the nest. Let us know what she does.

 

[SamBeavis]

If I go to pick her up she doesn't growl
She did roll egg of her housemate under herself yesterday
No feather issues
Poop normal
She was sat with tail in air after her last bath but then walked around
Behaviour normal other than nest sitting

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is she? Chickens who go broody do so gradually. They may lay an egg or two before getting serious about it, then stop laying. Bring her out to eat and drink if she is not coming out on her own. If I don’t want a hen to hatch chicks, I remove them from the nest and place them inside a pen to break them. Chickens who go broody for weeks who are not sitting on eggs may become weak and lose weight. Use your judgement as to whether she is hiding out in the nest, going broody, or acting sick. Do the others bully her?

 

[SamBeavis]

Shes rescue. I believe 2 years old.
She shares with just 1 silkie and they get on fine, no bullying
We don't hatch eggs (no cockeral)

 

[SamBeavis]

Just took from nest
Abaddon no egg
No growling
She walked around a little
Scratched a but
Then hopped back into chicken run, grabbed a bite to eat then back to nest

Doesn't seem in any discomfort

Bit bedraggled from her earlier bath but otherwise looking good

 

[SamBeavis]

She popped down from nest on her own for some food and a peck around for about 20 minutes last night, then back to nest - no egg

This morning she was down waIting to be released from chicken House
I let her out
Again she had a peck around then back to her nest
Gave her a warm epsom salt bath. She pooped (normal poop) then back to nest. -no egg

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

I have dealt with quite a lot of eggbound hens and yours doesn’t sound eggbound. She sound more like she is going broody.
I have a broody hen right now too and she also layed everyday for two weeks straight or so and then stopped to become broody

In my experience if a hen is eggbound you can almost see a change in their behavior immediately, they start to walk like a pingvin or very hunched over, they don’t really have any interest in food and aren’t really pooping either.
If you can’t feel an egg in her she is not eggbound,some hens just takes a break here and there

 

[SamBeavis]

Ok so we went to vet
Not egg bound (phew!)
Concensus = broody

I'll search for fixes on that in the forums

Thanks all

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

Ok so we went to vet
Not egg bound (phew!)
Concensus = broody

I'll search for fixes on that in the forums

Thanks all

if you want chicks you can put some eggs under her and in 21 days you will have chicks and a bit broody hen.
If you don’t want chicks you could try to first take her off the nest and make sure she isn’t going back inside or you could put her in a dog crate with wire and some food and water and let her be in there for a day or two or longer
It’s not really dangerous for a hen to be broody mabye more for you as she might will become very mean and angry