I have a buff orpington seems to be lining the nest with her own feathers so that when the egg comes out they are sticking to the outside intentionally. She is the only one doing it. It is not an excessive amount, but it seems a little odd. It has happened about 6 times now. I always know which egg is hers because it will be covered with feathers when I find it. Does anyone have any idea if this is a normal laying behavior or is she just odd? I haven't seen any other posts describing this kind of behavior. Could she be marking her eggs??? Any ideas??
I haven't noticed my hens ever lining their nests with their own feathers. Maybe some hens do? I know lots of bird species line their nests with feathers, but I never seen chickens do it. At least mine haven't. It might just be her thing or she's thinking about going broody. I do see the hens pull out their own feathers from underneath when they want to sit and incubate the eggs. It's called a brood patch. It's so they can have skin contact with the eggs during incubation. Maybe she's doing that and it just ends up in her nest? Orpingtons have a lot of fuzz on them. But I must admit, that picture is indeed funny
First up, I LOVE the pic. For some reason it really tickled my funny bone, and I have a bit of a giggle every time I think of it! I'm not 100% sure why your BO is doing it, but I can confirm that MY BO is doing it too! It's not so bad that the egg comes out of the nest fully feathered like yours, but my BO girl's egg is laid into a pile of feathers every morning. Since I have a broody hen at present, I am concerned she may be gearing up to go broody on me too. She never used to do it, and only started last week, coincidentally when the other one started sitting. I am wondering if your girl might be going broody too? They do tend to rip out their undercarriage feathers when they are getting ready to nest. Is she difficult to get OFF the nest after laying? My girl will now stay in the nest for two hours or more after laying - until I find her and do an eviction! Not sure if this is likely with yours or not, but it's something to consider. - Krista
