What on earth is my chicken doing?

[dean12692]

Hello from CA,

My name is Dean and this is my first post.

What prompted me to post was to figure out what my chicken is doing. I took this video to show you all. She has been laying for 3 months and I first noticed this behavior about 6 weeks ago, but she does it every day for 10-20 min. Does anybody have any idea what is going on? Iv'e checked and there is nothing up there.

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[gamebirdsonly]

No Idea maybe she's a little

crazy!!!!

 

[evemfoster]

Looks to me like she wants to climb up onto the 2X4 at the top of the wall.

 

[enola]

Does she finally give up and then go in the nest and lay an egg?

 

[Teila]

Howdy dean12692 and welcome to BYC

What a silly gal!

I am with evemfoster on this one and I also think that it looks like she is trying to get to the 2x4; no idea why though

Maybe she thinks there is somewhere up there to lay her egg where it will be safe and away from the other hens. Or it just looks like a good place to sit and watch all the goings on.

 

[dean12692]

you would think she would figure it out after a month of doing this. lol

 

[luckysaysgo]

She's trying to get up there and roost..she can't jump very high..she looks kind of mad about it too like gravity and her big bottom are the only things wrong in the world..how about if you stick her up there and take another video of it so we can see if it makes her happy?

 

[dean12692]

there is nowhere to go. after that 2x4 is a piece of plywood making the roof of the coop... there is nothing for her to get up onto.

 

[Teila]

Hey dean12692

OK, so I have watched it four more times and also made hubby watch it twice

I change my original thought that she is trying to get to the 2x4 because she is not looking at it; she is looking at the wall.

Hubby’s first thought was that she thinks the darker spots on the wall might be something tasty and edible.

We also thought that she may be trying to build up the straw below the wall. I will try and explain .. the wall is a similar colour to the straw and with the patterning, may be confusing her. Her jumping at it is her attempt at scratching some of it down below so she can build up the nest. If you watch, after she has jumped and scratched at the wall, she looks down at the existing straw.

If it was me, to test the above, I would cover the wall with a plain panel ? white and see if she stops.

 

[359584]

One of Mine does this when she wants to come out and free range but normally in her run on the side of her coop... There isn't a spider web or anything up there she wants to eat?