Hen holding her egg in for longer time while she waits to be let in!!?

[Fuzzy Butt Hut]

I know this sounds crazy or does it?! I've got a 1 yo SLW that I've hatched and raised in the house, she sleeps at night in a big dog crate with a perch and nesting box inside. She goes outside during the day in her run most of time. She has laid most of her eggs inside. Checking on her throughout the day, I started noticing her pace back and forth in her run frantically. When I let her out she will run to the backdoor wanting in, I let her in and she runs straight to her cage, gets in the nesting box and lays her egg. She usually lays around noon but she has held off laying a egg until 8 at night at times, when she couldn't get in the house!! Has anyone ever heard of chickens doing this??

 

[Mrs. K]

Put a nest out in the run?

 

[NatJ]

Has anyone ever heard of chickens doing this??

I've seen hens hold their egg until the right nestbox was available (there was a line), or if they had been moved to a new pen they would hold their egg for a while because they were trying to get back to their old nest.

I've never had one that did it as consistently as your hen does, but I've also never had a situation like yours where a hen would want to do it every day.