Explain the "might start laying soon" squat pls??

[thegreypony]

We just started getting eggs from our flock and the culprit seems to be a lone Wyandotte hen. The rest remain freeloaders.

Then today I notice one of the little EEs flitting around like her usual self and then she'd squat...it was quite bizarre and at first I was just sure there was something wrong with her. But the longer I watched her, the more I became convinced she was otherwise normal...well, as normal as she gets for her (she's a funny little bird - highly animated).

Could someone explain the I think I wanna lay an egg squat? This was very different from the scratch out a hole and lay in the dirt.

TIA - the info at this site in INVALUABLE!!

 

[Dirt Road]

Are you perhaps talking about the submissive posture that a hen assumes to accept the rooster? They will assume that position, whether there is a rooster present or not, when in reproductive mode.

Jim

 

[sangel4you]

wondering too about the squat... hmmm

 

[mtnhomechick]

Quote:
HaHa........looks like you just became a ROO!!

 

[Brindlebtch]

Anybody got a picture of an egg squat they can post? Please? I'm curious about this, too.

 

[Linda in San Diego]

What we saw was not an egg lay squat, it was a submissive squat. You try to walk out the door and across the porch and the hen squats to the ground in front of you. Choices...kick her out of the way, go around, step on her, or trip and fall.
When they squat you will notice it, they are being submissive like they would be to a rooster. But no rooster needed of course

 

[partysummer07]

I wish my chicken would be submissive to me! It seems like it would make it easy to pick her up, which I've never done without her freaking out, despite my being as gentle as possible. Instead she just runs up to me looking for food when she sees me, and sometimes if I'm barefoot mistakes my toenails for food and tries to peck at them. I've learned not to go near her unless I have grapes or other treats to ward her off with.

 

[thegreypony]

Thanks for the responses. There's a rooster in the mix - boy is there ever. What y'all described, though, sounds like what I'm seeing. Can't wait for those colored eggs!