Ameraucana Hen having 3 hour egg laying issue-please advise

[Juliebethcat7]

Hi,
I have an Ameraucana hen who is on her 3rd ever egg. She is about 6 months old and this will be her 3rd egg to lay today. She was out for a walk in the yard with her 2 other hen friends- a buff Orp and a RR. The 3 are inseparable. She left the other 2 earlier to go back to the coop for her egg to be laid. All 3 girls are just now starting to lay.

For some reason, she has been in the coop scratching and nesting and chirping for about 3 hours but no egg. I'm starting to worry about her. I just checked on her again and she was picking at the feathers of her legs by her belly -I know this is somewhat normal and seemed to be part of grooming and maybe just some anxiety over the long wait. I don't know. I'm starting to worry though.

What's the problem? maybe this is normal but my other two don't take this long. Maybe as she is new at it. She had her first jelly like egg. The 2nd was a lovely greenish day before today and todays. ...well just isn't happening so far.

I hope she is okay. Is this normal? Thank you,
Julie

 

[FridayYet]

Hi Julibethcat7, welcome to BYC!

It may be normal, since pullets sometimes take a while to get their laying "regular". Make sure your girls are on Layer feed or have plenty of calcium available. That will also help.

Good luck!

 

[jpalmatier83]

Search "egg bound" in the forums here. I may be wrong, but I think people start getting concerned after 24-48 hours.

Otherwise, like Friday said above, make sure feed/water and calcium (oyster or ground egg shell) are available.