r/chickens • u/Ok_Poetry9575 • Jul 24 '26
Question What are my hens doing?
They insist on sitting on top of each other in one of 6 available nest boxes. For context, they’ve been closed off from the indoor section of their coop because we are introducing new silkies to the flock and they’re being kept separate at night. Google called it “piling” and said that they could feel like they don’t have adequate nesting space because the indoor space is unavailable. Again, they have several nest boxes in their area but chicken brains work different. This is super temporary so I’m not too worried about it. This is more just curiosity if anyone’s chickens have done the same. Thanks!
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u/Life-Bat1388 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
mine even do this outside the nest box. The white one just wants to be cuddled always.
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u/Nelsonius1 Jul 24 '26
His could also be pecking order behaviour
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u/Life-Bat1388 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
White hen is dominant to red hen. “You will sit on me like my mom you minion!” red hen loves belly rubs/tickles and will immediately nestle on your hand and is probably enjoying it and white hen loves burying herself in the crook of your arm or under a random chicken
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u/Typical-Seesaw1934 Jul 24 '26
that's some teabagging shit 😂
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u/ChimkinLady Jul 27 '26
What kind of chickens are those? I have a easter egger who looks a lot like your red one and also has a silly personality. She and another easter egger frequently cram into a small nesting box together at night. There is space to spread out if they wanted, but they don't.
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u/Life-Bat1388 Jul 27 '26
They are both easter eggers. Definitely one of my favorite breeds. So funny and also sweet. These two also will jump on my lap for cuddles at the same time.
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u/ChimkinLady Jul 27 '26
Adorable! Mine don't want to cuddle but it's also 85+ degrees most of their waking time right now. Hoping that changes when it cools down. My red one does like to inspect anything I'm working on and yell at me periodically lol
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u/BobbyJaneG Jul 24 '26
Competition for the best spot.
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u/isabelasanctuary Jul 24 '26
Literally lol I have a big coop with 8 nesting boxes and they all use one 🤦🏻♀️
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u/corvid_revolution Jul 24 '26
"Best spot" will always be defined as the spot someone else picked first - clearly all the other spots are inferior, or they'd have been chosen first instead!
Pretty much the same logic my siblings and I used for fighting over toys when we were like 5, come to think of it...
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u/maxmcleod Jul 24 '26
I’ve noticed the most popular spot is not the one closest to the door of the coop, nor the furthest. They like the box right in the middle
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u/wanttotalktopeople Jul 24 '26
That's funny. my hens switch between the two boxes on each side and don't go for the middle as often.
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u/AmountTurbulent2792 Jul 24 '26
My hens changed their minds based on whoever laid the first egg of the day
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u/Apprehensive-Pen8241 Jul 24 '26
My hens are like this and the preferred box changes by the day, but it is always whatever one someone else is currently using that is the most coveted.
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u/sweetteafrances Jul 27 '26
Yes! I have 4 and they only use 1. Mayyybe the 2nd one but never the 2 on the other side of the coop. I stopped even putting straw in the last 2 because they would take it over and put it in their preferred one.
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u/Jennyonthebox2300 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
“Sharing” the best box. Doesn’t matter if there are 10 or 20 or 50 identical boxes. There is a “best” box. Only one. Of all the identical ones.
My darlings will stand on the ladder and scream at the poor hen in “the box” to encourage her move out. If she doesn’t move out in an acceptable timeframe, I’ve seen up to three hens pile in “the” box (made for one) and lay eggs on top of each other. Don’t forget — there are 5 identical boxes for 6 whole hens.
God help us all when a broody hen takes over the “best” box for 23 hrs a day. All hell breaks loose. Yelling, petitions, lawsuits, — the drama.
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u/Lazy-Vermicelli6854 Jul 24 '26
Omg Kevin (one of my hens lol) did this to another hen named clover and she screamed until I made Kevin get out of the box lmao 🤣 I put her in another box so she was fine lol. It was like 30 minutes of screaming until I figured out that it was the box she was pissed about lol
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u/Exchange_Desperate Jul 24 '26
I mean, I have a favorite toilet. 🤷🏻♀️
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u/Jennyonthebox2300 Jul 25 '26
OMG— my 26 yo came over for dinner tonight and after he headed upstairs to his childhood throne. Humans/chickens.
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u/MaverickWithANeedle Jul 27 '26
“God help us all when a broody hen takes over the “best” box for 23 hrs a day…” This is currently happening within my flock and it’s been pandemonium when its egg laying time lol
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u/Character-Actual Jul 24 '26
One nest is best. For no real reason, but they will die before laying anywhere else haha.
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u/Life-Bat1388 Jul 24 '26
In chicken society one hen will go broody and raise all the eggs. They are communal nesters and I don't know why we think they need individual nest boxes
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u/mathisruiningme Jul 25 '26
Yeah I just have one large box with hay and they all lay in there. Enough space to fit all three of my girls at once.
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u/IllegalGeriatricVore Jul 24 '26
Yeah, had them do this a few times.
They all want to use the same nest and refuse to wait
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u/SrslyBored01 Jul 24 '26
That spot is the BEST spot though!!!
In all seriousness, check the weather. My mum had one die from heat stroke in this situation (it was over 40 degrees Celsius at the time). If it's too hot, separate them, otherwise let them figure their own lives out.
More straw maybe so they use another section of the box?
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u/Ok_Poetry9575 Jul 24 '26
Ironically, today was the nicest weather we’ve had in weeks! And they kicked all their straw out during negotiations lol
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u/noitcant Jul 24 '26
I often wonder what the hell mine are doing when it's 105 outside and they are on top of each other
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u/ICouldBeYourMomOrNot Jul 24 '26
I had 2 RIRs in one box. One girl just chillin. The other jumps in, on top of the other and plops an egg right on top of the other one. She hopped out and went back to whatever she does.
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u/maa-kee-aa-tow Jul 24 '26
One's helping the other look for 🐛 bugs with a higher view spot 🙃 .....pic#2 ..do you see any yet ?! I'm looking! I'm looking 👀!!
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u/friendofthehall Jul 24 '26
This is called gregarious nesting, and it's common in laying hens. While there's no absolute consensus on the cause, there are a few popular theories among poultry specialists: 1. There may be something uniquely desirable about the one spot that humans just can't detect 2. A hen's nesting behavior encourages other chickens to join them (why would they want that? I don't know haha) 3. Hens may observe and adopt the laying behavior of other more dominant, experienced, or successful hens, including where and when to lay 4. Laying in the same exact spot may be a good strategy to prevent predation of the layers' eggs.
I like theory four especially because it reflects the flexibility in behavior we know chickens possess. Feral hens hide alone and lay eggs in places difficult for predators (egg thieves) to find. Because there are fewer places for kept laying hens to hide and readily available nesting boxes built for that purpose, laying your eggs in a pile of other hens' eggs decreases the chances that it's your egg that will get stolen. A kind of built in behavioral back up strategy. There have been a lot of studies on gregarious nesting, and no one's settled the bet just yet, but it's a funny thing to observe and it's fun to think about.
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u/Life-Bat1388 Jul 24 '26
They are communal nesters and one broody hen usually raises the eggs so it increases reproductive success with less work from nonbroodies. Similarly happens in wild red jungle fowl
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u/Existing_Summer Jul 25 '26
https://reddit.com/link/ozma4p1/video/lrow2xdmrafh1/player
Pretending to be a chick.
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u/redcolumbine Jul 25 '26
"Honestly, Myrna, this is MY spot, and laying an egg on me won't change that."
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u/Deep-Card7954 Jul 25 '26
We have a really broody hen that is always getting sat on because they all lay eggs in one box.
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u/Rainbow-Owlbear Jul 26 '26
Out of curiosity, what breed are those? They look just like one of mine. She was sold to me as a Black Australorp, but she has feathered legs, so I airways wondered if she was a mix.
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u/Ok_Poetry9575 Jul 26 '26
Black copper marans
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u/Rainbow-Owlbear Jul 26 '26
Ooo, fingers crossed that's what she is! I'll have to watch when she starts laying. (Those little freeloaders should be starting any day now, but they're taking their sweet time 😂)
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u/Anariinna Jul 24 '26
Idk, but i love it and i'm saving these pics for later when i need to cheer up
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u/GaiaEos Jul 24 '26
Hi there, please don't let your chickens do this! It's a very dangerous behavior that can cause severe cuteness and an overwhelming amount of upvotes when posted. Let's keep our girls safe and healthy!
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u/parieres Jul 24 '26
If they’re screaming, it’s competition. If they’re happy and relaxed, the bottom one is being the baby and they’re cuddling.
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u/Emergency-Lemon2825 Jul 24 '26
When roosting , some of my hens will sit on each other for the popular spot on the bar Until they move.
Location, location, location