strange hen in nest box...

[kerriliane]

I'm on this forum on my phone, while in my chicken coop. I have a hen who is in the nest box, picking up shavings and placing them on her back, the pushing the egg that's in the box around, then putting more shavings on her....
I don't understand. She's, a red star or maybe a RiR

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Normal nesting behavior. Doesn't mean anything. My girls do it too. They try to make a nice neat nest while waiting for the egg to be laid. Gathering shavings on her back makes her feel more natural, like a bird collecting other fragments for nests, in the 'wild'.

 

[kerriliane]

I just went to pet her, and she bit me. I gave her an egg and she pulled it under her... i hope he's not going broody.. i have one with 2 day old chicks, one on like 8-12 eggs and 15 in my incubator.... I'm going to be in a different province for 9 days in 2 weeks from now... i don't want chicks hatching while I'm gone because the friend i have watching my chickens won't be here every day... and the broody condo only houses 2 mama's...

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

It isn't horribly rare for a production chicken to go broody.

 

[shelleyd2008]

She's just keeping herself busy while she waits for her body to get a move on

 

[kerriliane]

Now she's got her head tucked, sleeping...

 

[shelleyd2008]

If she's still in the nest, she probably is broody. If you want her to sit eggs, wait until tomorrow night to give her the eggs you want her to sit, just to make sure that she goes back to the nest. Either let her keep whatever she has now or toss them after putting eggs under her that are marked with a sharpie so you know which ones they are. But wait til tomorrow night, if she's on there tomorrow night then she definitely is broody. But you could always take her off the nest and put her back on the roost, production hens are usually not hard to break up.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Doesn't mean she's 100% going broody. I have some very un-broody girls still doing the same thing. They get very territorial when cornered and someone goes to touch them. Ans all of mine, broody or no, will 'take eggs under them' if they are just sitting in the nesting box. I also have some that will keep on the nest for hours even when they don't have to lay. It's habit and instinct. And true, misleading.

If she sits on the nest religiously for days and days, then you have a broody hen.

 

[kano]

Quote:
This behavior is the remaining traces of the nest construction.

 

[serendipityfarm]

I have one hen that does that not only while in the nest but also parading around afterward. Silly chickens!