Help with strange nesting behavior, please.

[h-kay]

I have a RIR, one year old hen, no rooster. She has always been a good layer and has always spent the night on the roost with with the rest of the girls (there are 5).
Over the past few days she has gotten progressively aggressive and mean. She has stopped laying and spends a lot of her time in the nesting box. She sleeps in the box now. She is not walking as if she is egg bound and I have felt around her vent and found nothing. She growls aggressively anytime I open the coop door and find her in the box. A few days ago we found an egg the size of a quails egg in the box but can't be certain it was hers.

She is eating and drinking as normal though she is much more aggressive when she eats. She hasn't been free ranging with the other girls as she used to. It's been oppressively hot and humid here.

Also recently noticed a slight blue tinge to one portion of her comb. She just got over a respiratory infection about two months ago.

Any ideas?
Thank you for taking the time!!

 

[sjrag14]

Hi I have a hen I'm not sure how old she is due to our neighbour's giving some to us for a welcome home gift. We have one rooster and three hens. For about 4 months they have done awesome with going in at night. But this one hen has decided to no longer go in at night and the rooster doesn't try to get her in. Normaly he is the last one in the coop. Any reason why she's acting like this?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

sounds broody

 

[sjrag14]

Every time I go out in the morning she's roosting in a tree where we put some roosts. Could she still be broody even though she's not sitting on any whgs. Sorry this is all new to me and I'm trying to learn it the best I can.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sorry I was answering the original poster, yours sound like it is fearful, perhaps the rooster bothers her too much, or she is on the bottom of the pecking order, or its too warm, or something like that. She doesn't feel safe in there.

 

[sjrag14]

Oh I'm sorry! Thank you for your advice

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

Yes, the OP's hen sounds broody and the other user's hen sounds maybe scared of the roo.

 

[donrae]

I have a RIR, one year old hen, no rooster. She has always been a good layer and has always spent the night on the roost with with the rest of the girls (there are 5).
Over the past few days she has gotten progressively aggressive and mean. She has stopped laying and spends a lot of her time in the nesting box. She sleeps in the box now. She is not walking as if she is egg bound and I have felt around her vent and found nothing. She growls aggressively anytime I open the coop door and find her in the box. A few days ago we found an egg the size of a quails egg in the box but can't be certain it was hers.

She is eating and drinking as normal though she is much more aggressive when she eats. She hasn't been free ranging with the other girls as she used to. It's been oppressively hot and humid here.

Also recently noticed a slight blue tinge to one portion of her comb. She just got over a respiratory infection about two months ago.

Any ideas?
Thank you for taking the time!!

This hen is broody. doesn't matter if you have a rooster or not, her hormones are telling her it's time to be a momma. You can either give her fertile eggs to set on and hatch, let her brood fake eggs then slip day old chicks under her in about 3 weeks, or break her from being broody. Breaking broodiness is best done in a wire bottom cage, elevated off the ground. Food, water, a roost if you're so inclined, but no bedding or nesting materials. She need the airflow underneath her to get the hormones to quit. 3-5 days is the average time it takes to break a broody.

 

[h-kay]

Thank you everyone for the quick reply. I was afraid that was the problem but was hoping for anything else. LOL I'll break her of it but it sounds so cruel. I know it's what has to be done.
Thanks again!

 

[h-kay]

Hi I have a hen I'm not sure how old she is due to our neighbour's giving some to us for a welcome home gift. We have one rooster and three hens. For about 4 months they have done awesome with going in at night. But this one hen has decided to no longer go in at night and the rooster doesn't try to get her in. Normaly he is the last one in the coop. Any reason why she's acting like this?

Hi There,

I also had a hen that was doing this for a bit though I do not have a Roo. A raccoon had gotten into the pen area and scared the heck out of everyone. They are all free range so they ran and no one was harmed. For a few days after, one hen wouldn't go to the coop at night. I was able to break her by physically putting her in at night and feeding a treat. Now she goes in just fine. I don't know if I broke her of it or she just got over it.
Good Luck to you!