Hen behavior

[nancysmith2]

I have 2 Q.
1) Why do my chickens raise themselves up and flap like crazy for a few seconds?
2) I had an odd thing happen with one hen today. This hen likes to take her sweet time on the nest. She will sit there for at least an hour after laying. Today we needed to clean the coop and enlarge the area b/f we leave to go on a vacation. Time is crucial here. So my hubby reached in and got the egg. Trying to move things along. Oh boy, you have never heard such a fuss. She would not shut up. She cackled until I finally picked her up and gave her a peanut snack. What is the deal? My other laying hen has never acted like that.

 

[Preservation Acres]

1. They're basically just stretching.
2. You have a broody hen on your hands. She wants to hatch her eggs and become a mother.

 

[schmije]

1. I always thought ours were just fluffing their feathers out.
2. Several of our girls are fussy about us messing with them in the nests. We had a similar situation once when DH was trying to work in the coop, and a hen wouldn't get out of the nest box. He pulled her out and put her on the floor. She proceeded to tell him off for several minutes! She was so loud that he had to leave the coop to keep from going deaf. LOL! I was outside the coop laughing so hard I cried.

 

[nancysmith2]

Well, I am glad to know it is just stretching. I certainly wish her well on the hatching thing, since I am the rooster. I can tell she is going to be a very sassy hen. She is only 7 mos. old.