Hen not laying but pretends every day?

[Sueby]

Is it normal for a hen that molted last fall & isn't laying again yet to still go in the nest every single day & pretend? She's hogging the one 'magic' box. It really makes no difference, I'm just curious if this is a thing or she's weird. She has gone in the box every single day, she sits for at least an hour almost 2. Seems like such a waste of time, lol.

Do non laying hens still fake it?

 

[KingD]

she sits for at least an hour almost 2. Seems like such a waste of time, lol.

My parents do that in the toilet. Especially when there's an interesting book!

To answer your question, I really don't know..
How long has she been doing this for?
I know that some of my POL hens do it. So annoying! They even do the really dramatic egg song sometimes which get me all excited so I rush in there after the hen has left the nestbox only to find some squished poops it's done whilst sitting there for the past hour!

Maybe other people have experience with this..

 

[Sueby]

She's done this since she stopped laying last September. Every. Single. Day.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Does she exhibit any other unusual behavior? Is she walking and eating normally? Or is she walking around clucking rapidly, flattening or fanning herself out, being more assertive, screeching if you get too close to her when she's in the nest box? I wonder if she's broody. I've definitely had hens who had false alarms with their laying, but never for prolonged periods like this.

 

[Sueby]

No, def not broody. She's a RSL, this would be her 3rd year of life. She's eating, drinking & pooping normally. She laid an egg just about every day for her first 2 years, then molted in the fall but never stopped going in the nest box. She goes in & sits for an hour or 2 & comes out, sometimes singing an egg song. She will switch boxes & try them all out or chase the newly laying pullets out.

She never had any egg issues either, she laid good sized, perfectly hard shelled eggs till the molt.

I guess she is just a crazy ole bat!

 

[KingD]

No, def not broody. She's a RSL, this would be her 3rd year of life. She's eating, drinking & pooping normally. She laid an egg just about every day for her first 2 years, then molted in the fall but never stopped going in the nest box. She goes in & sits for an hour or 2 & comes out, sometimes singing an egg song. She will switch boxes & try them all out or chase the newly laying pullets out.

She never had any egg issues either, she laid good sized, perfectly hard shelled eggs till the molt.

I guess she is just a crazy ole bat!

I have a hen which is about 3 years old which has finished her egg laying career.
I know it's not particularly normal, but it's not unheard of for a hen to stop laying permanently at a youngish age. I prefer hens that turn feed into eggs, not into poop!

 

[Sueby]

Yea, I have my doubts that she'll ever lay again & that's ok because she has a special place here & always will. I will never get RSL again, they have it tough.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I have a retired layer that quit laying a year and a half ago, but still was making daily stops at the nest boxes and pretending to lay for a good half year or so. She hasn't done that so far this year. Maybe it's a hormonal thing... not enough hormones to produce eggs, but enough that the instinct is still there?

 

[Sueby]

I have a retired layer that quit laying a year and a half ago, but still was making daily stops at the nest boxes and pretending to lay for a good half year or so. She hasn't done that so far this year. Maybe it's a hormonal thing... not enough hormones to produce eggs, but enough that the instinct is still there?

Ok, that's good to hear. Good point on the hormones - especially with her being so young still that makes sense to me.

 

[morsekathan]

Yea, I have my doubts that she'll ever lay again & that's ok because she has a special place here & always will. I will never get RSL again, they have it tough.

I'm with you on that. My RSLs layed an egg every day of their short lives (not one lived more than two or 2.5 years) and then dropped dead. I lost so many in a row that I had a necropsy done on one. She had stopped laying about 2 months before she died but I knew she wasn't egg bound (I checked). It turned out that she had tumor that was more than 50% of her body weight. It's my belief that these birds are bred for their laying prodigiousness and not for longevity. They are small, lay every day and egg factories don't care if they have tumors after a couple of years because they are culled before that. Sweet birds though - some of my favorite hens were RSL.