Hi. I have 5 month old pullets. 4 started to lay regularly. One of them hasn't shown any signs of laying (or ready to lay even) until tonight. She is just standing in the nesting box. She isn't displaying signs of egg bound but I am worrying because I have read that it is rare for a chicken to lay at night. Could it be she is just adjusting to something happening to her that is new to her? At what point should I worry because she has just been standing in the box for a few hours now (going on 5 hours). Many thanks from a new chicken owner. If it helps I have Rhode Island whites.
New layers can lay on a night time - i know that I've found eggs under the roost. I'd say that your theory is correct - I'm sure that it can be a rather confusing time for a pullet when she is about to lay her first egg. As long as she is showing no signs of distress, personally, I'd leave her to it (but keep a close eye on her). ETA: you may wish to search "egg bound" as that should help you what to look for if she continues to stand in the nest box.
I've observed the 'standing stock still' when a soft shelled egg is moving thru. Might want to take a look back there if she hasn't passed anything yet... ...or at least take her out of the nest and put her on the ground/floor to make sure she is mobile.
Chickens start to investigate nest boxes.....They really have no clue on what they are doing, although the drive to lay eggs is there....They preform a lot of silly things until they start laying....All normal Pullet behaviour......Once laying they might spend hours in a nest box....Not Broody just Silly....I toss them out and collect my eggs and then go through the same silly things the next day... Cheers!
"chickens really," summed it up nicely. Eggs often ' surprise ' pullets and they can't imagine what happened.
