Strange Behavior

[bluenow]

Hi everyone,

I have a Rhode Island Red that's 5 years old and has started acting strange the past couple of weeks. What's happening is that she stays in the nesting box all the time unless I kick her out. Then when I kick her out she clucks continuously for a while. She also often immediately starts giving herself a dust bath after I kick her out. She's also been making some strange sounds that I haven't heard before. She is still laying.
Anyone have any thoughts about what this could be? Let me know if I can answer any questions to clarify.

 

[so lucky]

Could she be broody?

 

[seminolewind]

Sounds like broody. I would not worry. Personally I just remove them from the nest whenever I am by the coop. Eventually they give up. Let her dust bathe.

 

[aart]

Hi everyone,

I have a Rhode Island Red that's 5 years old and has started acting strange the past couple of weeks. What's happening is that she stays in the nesting box all the time unless I kick her out. Then when I kick her out she clucks continuously for a while. She also often immediately starts giving herself a dust bath after I kick her out. She's also been making some strange sounds that I haven't heard before. She is still laying.
Anyone have any thoughts about what this could be? Let me know if I can answer any questions to clarify.

Sure sounds broody to me, these are my go-to signs:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly.
My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest (or as soon as I know they are broody), I put her in a wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop or run with feed and water.

I used to let them out a couple times a day, but now just once a day in the evening(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two. Or take her out of crate daily very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate.

Chunk of 2x4 for a 'roost' was added to crate floor after pic was taken.

 

[GoatDragonFarms]

Agree with the others here, sounds like The Great Brood. @aart has the greatest description of a gal wanting kids I have yet to read, and how to break her.
Her laying should stop soon, if it indeed this one that is still laying. Keep us posted!

 

[bluenow]

Thanks for the responses. Well, sounds like she's broody. Aart, thanks for the comment. Some answers to your questions:

Is she on nest most the day and all night? YES
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake? SOMETIMES
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest? YUP

We don't have a rooster, so the eggs wont hatch. I'll just keep kicking her out and see what happens. Thanks again!