Help!! Broody or egg bound?

[Carrie78]

One of my chickens started just staying in the nest box about a week ago. When I have coaxed her out she acted normal; ate, scratched around in the dirt, pecked around, but then when back to the box. When I try to coax her out she makes a funny trilling sort of sound and hasn't laid an egg since this started. Today I tried a warm bath in which she promptly pooped worrying she was egg bound. I'm at work now so I can't say if she's laid anything yet but I'm now wondering if she's brooding because she does seem to be flattened out in the box and I have noticed some feathers in there as though she's pulling them out to line the nest. I really do not want to have to try the lubing and inserting of fingers into her so any help or ideas as to what might actually be causing her to stay in the nest so much without laying would be greatly appreciated! Oh, I don't know if it makes any difference but she has only been laying eggs for a month and a half-two months, she was my last chicken to start laying eggs, all her eggs have been on the small side but well formed with hard shells.

Thank you!

 

[Wyandottes7]

Is she walking around like a penguin? Or, is she fluffed up with a hard abdomen and listless? These are some common signs of egg binding. If she isn't showing any of those symptoms, I would suspect that she has simply gone broody. Most birds with egg binding act sick. Trilling/growling noises and staying in the nest are more commonly signs of broodiness.

 

[mortie]

Sounds like my broody. Laying since Late August and broody already. I wasn't expecting to have to deal with this so soon, I am in the process of breaking her now. Good luck!

 

[Carrie78]

Thank you both for the replies! After prodding her a bit she walked some for me and she seems to be walking normal. Her feathers only puffed up when I was prodding her then they settled down and she started eating. I've got some almond milk and yogurt in the bathroom with her for the extra calcium and good bacteria, just in case, if she'll eat them. She's my scaredy cat chicken, takes her a while to try new foods. I felt around on her abdomen and around her vent and I don't feel anything hard or any bulges or anything. Hopefully she's just being a mother hen and trying to make babies, I'll be keeping a close eye on her until she's acting more normal!

 

[mortie]

Egg binding gets very critical very quickly. I think she is just broody. Unfortunately she won't snap out of it without your help. Do please research breaking a broody. There are tons of threads here and other resources around the Internet.