Hen Labor

[thehenherder]

Hi All, I looked and didn't find this question answered in another thread, sorry if it's a repeat! I had my hens start laying eggs this week and the first egg came after about 20 minutes of very loud squawking. I was not home for the next two, but I was wondering if anyone had noticed whether egg laying gets easier for the hens over time (and therefore perhaps a bit quieter...)? It was rather painful sounding, and I'm sure it alerted all the neighbors, lol! Thank you )

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Hi

and

Alot of hens will "sing" the egg song for their entire productive life. My hens all squack really loud and parade around after laying. Different people think different reasons why they do this from being proud of their egg laying to trying to distract others from bothering their freshly laid egg by drawning attention to themselves instead...

I'm not sure if I would call it "labor" persay. My hens even having laid for a year will still take sometimes 10 minutes to lay an egg once they really get down to buisness. They can spend 30 minutes in the nestbox making it just right before they get down to laying though.
It might be a little difficult for them at first but I do not believe it's painful once they get into the swing of it. Maybe like taking a lagre bathroom break

If you notice blood streaking on the eggs and a hen who is straining and straining to lay but not producing, then I would think she might be in pain. There is a difference between a hen laying in the nestbox and a hen actively pushing her egg out, you can tell. My girls will grunt and press their feet into the floor for support and their bottom comes up off the floor. They don't exactly lay down. This part only take about 5 minutes tops, but prior to this there is much shifting, making the nest just so, grabbing shavings and straw and tossing it onto their backs, etc.

Hope this helped.

 

[Wynette]

What PineBurrowPeeps said!

I'll add only that when mine sing the egg-laying song, sometimes the other hens actually join in! It can get QUITE noisy in the coop!

And - welcome to BYC!

 

[JessHall]

I think that the first one would be a foreign experience and probably really uncomfortable... however lots of hens are noisy while they are laying

 

[tryingtohaveitall]

We have 1 layer right now. Recently I suspected she ate an egg, so I've been out waiting on her to produce and have been listening to her. She is quite loud before she lays the egg. My almost 4 yo was out there with me yesterday and she asked what was wrong with Sally, lol. All seems to be fine, but she does act like she's in labor before she finally produces the daily egg.

 

[chickenbottom]

ya some of mine join in with they others that just laid i havent gotten a first egg yet from my 24 weekers but they are really loud its like a screaming sound and clairese she sings the egg song after ever single egg she squats down her legs get far apart and plop the egg as the first poster said i dont think its painful after a while like after egg 5 or so. ive never heard the term hen labor i think its cute almost makes me think of a chicken just giving birth to a baby chick without a shell lol. but the answer to your question i guess some could quiet down with age but not likely they like to brag hope this helps and

also congrats on the new layers

 

[walbarbsa]

Even my rooster, Julio, joins in with them. And, yes, it gets quite noisy in the coop!

 

[swedishfish]

So THAT's why my hens will randomly start cackling VERY loudly in the middle of the day. Still not sure what provokes the roos to have their daily crowing contest though...

 

[For-The-Love-Of-Chickens]

We had our first egg yesterday and other than some scratching in the nestbox and soft cackling to herself, she didn't make a peep!! (We have a monitor in the coop, cuz we want to make sure everyone is earning their keep!

)

I was kinda disappointed about that for about a tenth of a second because we went online and listened to the sounds a chicken makes when laying and I told my boys that that is what we are listening for. The first egg excitement was GREAT though! We hope we get another today.

So, I guess every hen is different. Maybe some of our other hens who haven't started laying will be squawkers!

 

[foweler]

My RIR started laying 15 days ago. I found two eggs on what must have been her second day. I didn't even notice the first egg on day one or any noise.

On day three I was home and watched all of the drama. She sang at the top of her lungs and wandered around the yard for hours before finally laying under a bush. ( I needed to add some privacy screening to the front of my nest boxes before she would lay in them).

The next few days she still made noise but not as much or for as long.

My Light Brahma layed her fourth egg this morning. The only noise out of her is a few seconds worth of singing right as she comes down from the nest. The RIR has toned back to almost no noise as well.

Still waiting to see how my Brown Leghorn does.


In short, I think its totally up to the personality of the bird. I got lucky so far.