White Leghorn Hen sitting in nest, singing egg song...but no egg...

[Chicken-fil-a]

I have a white leghorn hen that is, I would guess, between 1 and 2 years old. We got her, full grown, about 8 or 9 weeks ago. The other two hens she came with made the adjustment to the move well and started laying again about two weeks ago. She goes and sits in the nest box at the same time every day and kind of zones out for a while. She even lets you touch her when she is doing it, which is odd since she is usually very skittish. After about 20 minutes, she sings the egg song, but there is never an egg in the box.

Is she just gearing up to lay this spring or is she getting old and doesn't realize that she isn't actually laying any eggs? Other than that she acts just fine and goes about her chicken business as usual.

Any ideas on why she does this?

 

[ve]

She can be checking the nest.If she lay softshelled eggs she may eat them.Or she can be internal layer or eggbound.I had an internal(sp) layer who did the same for few monts before she die

 

[Chicken-fil-a]

There are definitely no soft shelled eggs...I am usually outside and I check as soon as she is done and I haven't seen anything unusual around her vent like yolk or anything. How would I tell if she is an internal layer? Would she be acting strangely? She acts perfectly normal other than this nest box behavior...

The behavior has been going on about a week and a half.

When you say "Checking out the nest", what do you mean? Could she just be getting ready for laying eggs again?

Hmm....

 

[GrannySue]

One of my retired Hylines goes into the nest nearly every morning. If I go in she mumbles quietly as if to say, "this is my job, now go and do yours".
She'll stay there for about an hour, then hop off and join the others. She's about 3 years old and hasn't laid an egg since last summer.

 

[Chicken-fil-a]

Quote:
I wonder if that is the case with Beauty. She very well could be 3 years old, but I figured even if she is she would still be laying on occasion since she is a Leghorn. I believe the man we bought her from said this is her second year though...