Help with my pullet who is acting strange and not laying yet

phate008

Chirping
Jan 6, 2020
65
41
73
Westchester NY
I posted here a few months ago when I got my chickens. They have been healthy and I have been making additions to their living arrangement. Basically I bought a small wood coop on Amazon for them. After putting it together I felt it was too small of a space to keep them cooped up. So I bought a large 8x10 shed that I built to house the small wood coop. This shed had a window which is kept open, but I was told that the air circulation was not good for their respiratory health. I added a HEPA air purifier that I leave running. As it got warmer I decided to build an enclosure around one of the sets of doors. I finished an outdoor 8x8 area on a dirt patch and used galvanized steel cloth to fence in the entire outdoor area. They were let out into this area for the first time 3 days ago and they love it. I build 2 sets of perches and a ladder to take them to the higher perch.

I have been waiting for my girls to lay eggs they are all about 6-7 months. Today the big girl was making a whining kind of sound and following me around a lot. I searched around and I found this video on youtube.
She has been doing a similar sound and she has tried to follow me outside when I walk out. As I go down the rabbit hole of google I stumble on a ton of threads that freak me out a little bit ie. internal layers, lash eggs, swollen abdomens, etc. Another thing I noticed her doing is that sometime when I walk behind her she drops to a squat which was a little funny because I never saw her do it before.

Below is a picture of the coop where they go to sleep every night.
https://www.amazon.com/PawHut-Enclo...Y1g&hsa_cr_id=4949165130501&ref_=sb_s_sparkle
The coop has no lights inside. There is an area for them to roost and that box towards the side is the nesting box where I assumed I would find an egg one of these days. I do notice that there is some evidence of activity in the nesting box. It looks like they kick the pine shavings around, but no eggs. After watching that video I am thinking that she is not happy with her nesting situation. Today I decided to throw a little shredded straw in the boxes and carve out a nest type of shape. Does anyone have any advice on what I can do? Anything I should be worried about or things to check on them?
 
What breed are they? I would like to see a picture of the nesting box. I recommend using all straw or hay for the nesting box instead of shavings. Generally your chickens would have started laying by now. If your chickens were upset about the shavings that would not be what would stop them from laying, they would just of layed an egg somewhere else. Your chickens will probably start laying soon. When your chickens start laying you can look at the chickens vent to see who's laying. If their vent is open their laying and if its closed their not.
 
As I go down the rabbit hole of google I stumble on a ton of threads that freak me out a little bit ie. internal layers, lash eggs, swollen abdomens, etc. Another thing I noticed her doing is that sometime when I walk behind her she drops to a squat which was a little funny because I never saw her do it before.

I do notice that there is some evidence of activity in the nesting box. It looks like they kick the pine shavings around, but no eggs. After watching that video I am thinking that she is not happy with her nesting situation. Today I decided to throw a little shredded straw in the boxes and carve out a nest type of shape.

Never randomly google all the illnesses your animals can come up with... it's really horrifying! Every time I see a lash egg photo I kinda want to puke. I admit I look up stuff as I need it. In many cases they'll have a few hiccups at the start of laying, but will work out the kinks themselves without you needing to do anything.

The squat is a sign of her submitting to you. She's willing to be mated. It's not a for sure indicator but so far with my flock, I've batted 100% - after they start squatting they start laying within 7-14 days.

The activity you've seen in the nest box is a good thing, it means the pullets are checking out the nest box and if you don't already have fake eggs in the box, I'd put some out there. You may find they'll bury the fake eggs, kick them out... perfectly normal.

Pine shavings are fine as a substrate as is the straw. The chickens will likely move material around and shape it themselves to their liking.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I will try and put a golf ball, ping pong ball, or egg shaped item in there tonight and will replace the shavings with straw. As far as the breeds I have a Plymouth Rock, Speckled Sussex, and a Silver Laced Wyandotte. For some reason the Speckled Sussex is very petite. The other 2 eat like pigs, but she is very particular and eats very light. I am attaching a picture, hopefully it goes through.
 

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