Shoving straw into feathers

[Panthus]

Hi people,

New to the egg game and I've noticed one of my little ladies is circling about in her nest and shoving bits of straw into her back and into her wings. Almost like she's trying to camouflage herself in with the coop

any reasons why she does this? I'm expecting an egg and my other chicken is just standing there watching. I've only had two and a half eggs from them at this stage so I'm not down pat on their behavior. By half I mean an egg with no shell.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Is she trying to dust bathe in the straw?

 

[Panthus]

Nope, I've seen her do that before. This is definate shoving straw in her feathers.

She just laid an egg

 

[zzGypsy]

yay on the egg!

I've seen parakeets do this... they'll pick up feathers that other birds have molted and tuck them into their own. bits of other things as well, leaves, strips of bark... they're decorating! ok, I don't know why they do it, or if chickens might do it for the same reasons (whatever they might be) but I'm hanging around here to see if someone else does.

I'm going to have to watch my chickens more closely... so far, only dust baths, no accessories...

 

[Chinchilla2]

Quote:
Thanks for explaining the "half egg" comment. I was sitting here going "How the heck did they do that and is it strictly a Down Under thing?

Not sure why she would be accessorizing but maybe she thinks she has a hot date?

 

[SuziQ991]

Yep, I have seen my hens do that as well. Funny to watch. I just thought they wanted their nest just right before laying

. So I don't know the answer but I know that it is normal.

 

[Cosmopolis Chick]

Quote:
HA HA HA HA! You made me laugh right out loud!
Hee hee!
I have seen birds on the Nature Channel do that, don't remember what kind of bird but they weren't chickens.
(giggle!)

 

[Panthus]

Now that the egg is out she hasn't bothered with any more chicken jewelry. At one point she had straw sticking out at all angles. Quite funny yet kinda weird.

Chinchilla2 haha you made me laugh

 

[DanEP]

I have about 25 hens and about 4 or 5 of them do the shavings on the back thing before laying. It's normal for some to do this, I always kind of figured it was like some women clean house just before going into labor.

 

[chicken grandma]

A lot of my hens have done this. I think it is a way to hide themselves while they are vulnerable and laying! Kinda cute!