HELP!!! Should I leave her alone or should I check to see if she's egg bound????

[FuzzFaceFarm]

I have 6 hens born at the same time and all laying age (they will be 24 weeks old on Sunday Feb 12th, 2017). 2 EE's that I don't think are ready to lay yet, 2 GLWs, and 2 Red Sex Links.

Four of them have been showing me signs that they are getting ready to drop their first eggs: Crimson Red Combs and Waddles, Doing the "Drop it like it's hot SQUAT", talking more, checking out the nest boxes, and rearranging the straw and what not. Yesterday "Sour" which is one of my Red Sex Links went into a nest box and laid an egg. Today a few of them have been in and out of the nest box and have been pushing out the fake eggs I have in there. Should I keep putting the fake eggs back in the nesting boxes? I have 8 nesting boxes and one fake in each.

*****Most importantly, Nugget who is one of my GLWs has a super bright red comb and waddles but then they fade and get REALLY pale all of a sudden and she starts to open her beak kind of like she's panting or straining but in less than a minute or so they go back to normal. Sometimes she's laying down when this happens and sometimes she's kind of squatting. She's not having a problem eating or drinking but I haven't seen her poop yet. My other GLW, Chubbers isn't doing this...her comb and waddles have been bright red all day. I doubt it's from the heat and I'm not sure if it matters but I live in Florida in the Tampa area and it isn't hot today, it's warm breezy nice weather. I would think if it was heat related all the girls would be doing it, right?

MY MAIN QUESTIONS ARE: Is this normal behavior prior to laying a first egg? Should I just leave her alone and see if she pops out a butt nugget or should I suspect that she might be egg bound and try to help her? I don't want to mess with her if it seems normal enough since I know taking her out would also affect the other 5 girls but I don't want anything bad to happen to my little Nugget. I have been out here watching them for a few hours already (I'm on chicken time) so should I just keep watching her to see if I can see her poo? Also should I be replacing the fake eggs in the nesting boxes or taking them out once a hen kicks it out?

Thank you guys so much for anyone that answers and can give me any insight as to what is happening with my girl.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Keep replacing the eggs, young hens are often vigorous in the nestboxes.

I wouldn't worry about your hen being egg bound, I've actually never seen one and believe in most cases it just a matter of the hen not being ready to lay the egg yet. A few months ago I observed a young hen acting odd, she would lay on the ground and pant multiple times a day. She laid her first egg a few days later. I assume they get cramps and sensations as stuff fires up that makes them uncomfortable. An egg bound hen stops eating and becomes very sick from it. So as long as your hen is eating and drinking I wouldn't worry.

 

[FuzzFaceFarm]

Keep replacing the eggs, young hens are often vigorous in the nestboxes.

I wouldn't worry about your hen being egg bound, I've actually never seen one and believe in most cases it just a matter of the hen not being ready to lay the egg yet. A few months ago I observed a young hen acting odd, she would lay on the ground and pant multiple times a day. She laid her first egg a few days later. I assume they get cramps and sensations as stuff fires up that makes them uncomfortable. An egg bound hen stops eating and becomes very sick from it. So as long as your hen is eating and drinking I wouldn't worry.

Thank you so much for the reply. Yes, she is was eating and drinking just fine. I inspected her cloaca when she went into the coop to roost and it didn't have any seepage, it was clean and moist so I expect that she just wasn't quite ready to drop that first egg or she's getting tired trying to push it out. I'm just going to keep a close eye on her. I appreciate the support, it has really made me feel better. =D