Hen's first eggs not coming out

[bousky]

My Americuna (Mabel) seems to be working on laying but there has been no product yet. I would like to know if there is anything I can do for her.

I have two hens that are about 7 months old. The Silver Laced Wyandotte (Midge) started laying a couple of weeks ago. She seemed to be coaching Mabel today. For several days Midge has been slightly different. Today she has spent most of the day in the nesting box in the Coop. Midge lays her eggs under overgrown lavender plant.

There has been no product. She has taken several breaks and allowed me to pick her up. The last stay in the box was pretty long and fairly quiet. Once again she emerged without laying an egg. Should I be worried? The only thing different has been, what seems to be poop on her feathers below her vent. Her vent seems normal, not that I have inspected it previously to know for sure. I massaged it some and she seemed to like it. She was very relaxed when I did so.

 

[EEforMe]

she could be egg bound. I don’t know a ton about treatment but you would get more answers if you put this in the “emergencies, diseases, injuries, and cures” section

 

[wrathsfarm]

I think your girl is just brand new to all this laying business and hadn't figured out her body, triggering when the egg is actually moving towards the exit.

 

[EEforMe]

I think your girl is just brand new to all this laying business and hadn't figured out her body, triggering when the egg is actually moving towards the exit.

Yeah chickens can definitely be a little confused when they first start laying

 

[bousky]

Thank you. So far she is looking healthy. Her comb is a nice red and she is eating and participating with her friend. They get upset when they aren't together. Since egg-laying has started I am hearing a whole lot more verbalizing from them!

I will be watching her since I have spent some time reading about the egg-laying process and being egg-bound to be more aware of what to look for. It was a surprise when Midge started laying. She gave us 2 on her first day!

 

[Shadrach]

My Americuna (Mabel) seems to be working on laying but there has been no product yet. I would like to know if there is anything I can do for her.

I have two hens that are about 7 months old. The Silver Laced Wyandotte (Midge) started laying a couple of weeks ago. She seemed to be coaching Mabel today. For several days Midge has been slightly different. Today she has spent most of the day in the nesting box in the Coop. Midge lays her eggs under overgrown lavender plant.

There has been no product. She has taken several breaks and allowed me to pick her up. The last stay in the box was pretty long and fairly quiet. Once again she emerged without laying an egg. Should I be worried? The only thing different has been, what seems to be poop on her feathers below her vent. Her vent seems normal, not that I have inspected it previously to know for sure. I massaged it some and she seemed to like it. She was very relaxed when I did so.

Some hens spend days trying out on and off sitting to lay an egg when it's their first.
It's interesting to speculate why.
Once an embryo is dropped from the infundibulum it takes on average 24 hours for the egg to go through all the stages before being laid.
If a hen is practicing sitting and laying, which I believe they do from what I've seen, then the hen knows she's about to start laying eggs before the first egg starts its journey.
Further evidence of this is over a few days they go from absolutely no interest in nest boxes or nest sites, to checking out likely spots.
It has not been uncommon for me to notice a hen coming into lay who has been doing the practice runs only to find she sat trying to lay the egg for a couple of hours then seems to either give up, or get off the nest and walk away only to have the egg fall out while she's walking, with me following behind waiting to try to catch it.

Your hen sounds normal. Given you are aware of egg binding (rare in my experience with first time layers) then that is really all you need to consider and it should be fairly obvious if this happens.
In the end they either lay an egg or they don't. Some hens never lay an egg. Some hens start to lay much later than an another of the same age.

I wouldn't worry until you see something is in fact wrong and a few days of nest testing is normal.

 

[Mrs. K]

Give her a lot of privacy. Let her be. I agree with Shadrach, unless you have them in far too small of set up, first time layers have never egg binded for me. I do think that adequate exercise is important for good healthy laying. It is just a theory for me, but mine do have a lot of space, and I have never had an egg bound chicken.