Interesting observation from a chicken laying her first egg

[matimeo]

I got to be home all day today, and since we got a break in from the constant rain, I got to spend some time outside observing the girls. The gold comet started laying right after new years and the others are looking ready. Today, one of the RIR's was acting really funny. Leaving the other three and pacing back and forth across the yard. She kept going to the coop then coming out. I hear her squawking in the coop, then come running out- so I went to look and there was an egg! I thought it was her that laid it. I took the egg inside and she kept acting really weird, bawking a lot and coming in and out of the coop (they usually don't go in the coop at all during the day). I caught her several times just sitting in the nest box. I thought she was mad I had taken her egg, or had gone broody or something. I came out a while later and found a pullet egg in the nest box she had been sitting in. Then it donned on me that the first egg I found was probably from the gold comet (it was bigger and the same color as the others she has laid). Alice, the RIR, was back to acting normal after she finally laid her first egg. No more pacing around or annoying the neighbors with her ranting. Hopefully she won't always be that noisy or crazy before she lays. I'm hoping my other RIR and Delaware start laying soon as well.

The "twins" with Coco, our Delaware

Ginger- who has been laying for a couple of weeks

Ginger again

This is Alice, our distressed chicken who laid her first egg today. Very interesting to watch her behavior. I think she was pretty stressed out about being a first time mother.

 

[magicpigeon]

She'd adorable!

My hens always act a little strange before they lay their eggs too!

 

[LOST Chick Heather]

I got to see all of mine that are currently laying do the same thing. It is interesting to watch! I also noticed that they are loud when they first lay.

 

[theoldchick]

Bless her heart!

 

[Tartannik]

Aw poor wee soul, I bet was wondering what all the funny feelings were!!
Lovely hens btw!

 

[abhaya]

she will calm down as it become more normal for her to lay you have some very nice birds

 

[Happy Chooks]

Yup, mine always do the squawking/pacing routine prior to laying their first egg. I think it catches them by surprise and they don't know what's going on.

 

[karimw]

Quote:
I think the hen in your avatar is broody! That's what mine act like when they decide they want to KEEP their eggs

 

[HHandbasket]

Same here. My Olga laid her first tiny little pullet egg this morning! I am soooo excited because this is the first chicken that I've raised from a tiny chick to laying (the rest of our birds were a couple of months old when we got them, already fully feathered & living outside). Also, she is half American gamefowl (her father) and half EE (her mother), so we didn't know what she'd lay. She has a peacomb so we thought it'd be blue or green, but nope, she laid an itty bitty 1.4 ounce pale pink egg! She's a very small bird in stature, which I am guessing comes from the American game aspect of her parentage.

She's flighty and weird, never did squat but we knew the egg was coming soon because she has been singing the egg song, doing the back and forth into the coop like you guys were talking about, pacing and acting funny for about 5 days now. I knew she wouldn't squat... she's got a "wild child" side to her because of the gamefowl in her blood.

We are just happy she laid us an egg. She just turned 27 weeks old TODAY.

Yay, Olga!