chicken not leaving nesting box

Posted by Jeanette on March 24, 2011 at 7:01am

My 7 month old leghorn has been sitting in the nesting box since around 4:00 p.m. yesterday. She did not come out for 'outside time' with the other girls, she did not run out to get the fresh cabbage when the other girls went back into the coop. She often lays in the afternoon, so I did not pay much attention to it. This morning she is still in the box, the others were scrambling at the door to see if I'd let them out. She puffed up and hissed at me when I looked at her. There is a lot of poop, normal looking, on the ladder and there is never that much. Might be coincidence.

Is this evidence of being egg bound? I did not poke underneath her to see if there was an egg and she was just wanting to sit on it. I am going to work now, will check in later and be home later in afternoon. I will have kids check on her.

 

Thoughts?

 

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Replies

  • This reply was deleted.
    • Laura March 26, 2011 at 11:41am
      you did not mention you were a pastry chef! hmmm... perhaps we could make an arrangement. :)
  • Jeanette March 24, 2011 at 5:55pm
    When I got home from work I reached my hand through the little door in the nesting box and gave her a little shove. She came right out, ran around the back yard. Life back to normal. Thanks!
  • Laura March 24, 2011 at 7:18am

    Someone is being broody! She may be sitting on one egg or several, but she has certainly decided she is nest bound. You can 'talk her out of it' with a little prodding, or if you have a rooster and want to home hatch let nature take its course. The broody behavior can be disrupted by many things, so this does not guarantee precious chirping chicks... it could end up with a handful of rotten eggs. We had a brahma sit on 17 eggs once. She was stealing them from all the other hens as her own. :) Very cute, but we are egg producers, so we fought her on it and eventually won. 

     

    • Laura March 24, 2011 at 9:17pm
      lol. Generally, broody girls are not worth the fight, it's true. But it depends on the breed! Some girls can be talked out of it. Did you get her eggs to sit on? You're gonna be hatching again in no time. :)
    • Laura March 24, 2011 at 9:39pm
      just looked 'em up. they look like great birds! (we need to get you a goat next)
  • Rachel March 24, 2011 at 7:17am

    Although this is highly unusual for a leghorn and even more unusual for a bird her age, these are very clear signs of being broody. The puffing up and hissing are part of it, they'll often give you a hard peck if you mess with them while they're in this phase. My guess is that because of her breed  (a very un-broody one) that it won't last too long and she'll give up and go back to normal earlier than other breeds (some will sit for 5 weeks). Usually they will come out once a day for food/water/bathroom. If she is still doing this in a few days, you can put a little bowl of food/water in or near the nest box, but it's not necessary this time of year. (I recommend that people give their mid-summer broodies a water bowl in the nest box because of our extreme heat).

    Egg binding has pretty different symptoms, they will often be puffed up, but very sickly and lethargic.

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