Hello I was wondering if someone could help me with my hen. She is a Japanese bantam and just barely older than a year. She is in a flock with all silkies and she has never gone broody and has been known to lay a lot of eggs. Yesterday and today she has been just staying in the egglaying place with my hen crystal(she's broody). My Japanese bantam will growl at me and puff up like a broody hen but when I place a egg in front of her she doesn't scoot it under her like a broody hen would do. When I felt near her vent for the egg it didn't feel like she had one. I don't know what to do. I think she should probably go to the vet. We gave her a warm bath and oiled her vent area. I don't know for sure what I should do.
I can't tell you for sure, but generally speaking the growling and puffing up is definitely broody behavior. If she was egg bound, she would be feeling unwell, off by herself, tail down.
She could just be pretending to be broody too. Some hens do that. One of mine if broody with a lot of eggs under her, but she doesn't scoot them under either.