Non-Laying Pullet is Hogging the Nesting Box

[Echolalia]

I've noticed something strange the last few days. Buffy, the last of my laying age pullets to not lay eggs has been aggressively sweating the other girls when they go in to use the nest box. She either sits inside the coop, directly outside the nest box, staring at the girls who are trying to lay eggs; or she tries to get in the box with them. Every time Rosie & Bertha go into the coop, Buffy is right behind them. Needless to say, they are not happy about this and have stopped laying. I even set up an ersatz nesting box out side (two pieces of plywood leaned up against each other with a bunch of straw in it but when Rosie & Bertha try to go in there, Buffy follows.

R & B seem very cranky - they are singing eggs songs and visiting the nesting box but are not laying. Could Buffy be stressing them out by being a big old voyeuristic & pushy chicken creeper?

 

[ECBW]

Buffy may be experiencing stage fright for her pending big day.

 

[LizaBlue]

I am dying to read the answers on this one! I have seven hens and suspected one lil lady of being a late bloomer: her comb and wattles were pale and tiny compared to the full, deep red ones the other girls sported, plus she was just slimmer all over. Despite all that, she seemed to be the one most interested in the nest boxes, both the ones inside the coop and the ones outside in the open barn. She was always stalking the known layers and following them when they got busy, too. I assume she is finally earning her keep, since her coloring's perked up, she's filled out some, and we frequently get 7 eggs a day now, but for a full month I was sure we had a non-fertile hen. I don't know, maybe her instincts kicked in before her body caught on, but she sure seemed possesive of the nests and mad at the other girls using them! Now everything is normal, except she's a bit spoiled - I felt bad for her being the odd ball and kept feeding her treats to fatten her up, now she thinks she is my baby, lol.

 

[Echolalia]

I'm kinda worried about the other girls getting egg-bound if Buffy is being too being of a nuisance to them. What happens if a chicken feels too stressed out to lay an egg?

 

[Echolalia]

I should mention that I separated them yesterday so that the layers could do their work in peace. They did finally lay; for one of them it'd had been a couple of days, so I was a little worried.

 

[laseterlass]

Quote:
I have a the same thing going on. Queens Elizabeth and Ann are laying. Queens Victoria and Nefertiti are squatting. Queen Latifa is bigger than all the others. More of a English Orpington build small pink comb and wattles and is just now going thru her teenage "DONT TOUCH ME!" stage. She is a DIVA and will not stay out of the hen house when the others go in. She is not bothering them, good thing. Just walks back and forth on the perch complaining to them. They are all the same age.