Hen sitting in nest box and pushing...?

[RubyNala97]

This is my first year raising chickens. All of my chickens are still young except I bought 2 hens about 3 weeks ago. I've been getting about 3 eggs a week between the 2 girls and today was actually the first time an egg was laid in the actually nest box, instead of the coop floor! But since about 3 hours ago one of the hens has been sitting in the nest box and looks to be pushing. Her vent is facing out and I took a video that I can upload if it will help. My question is, is this normal hen behavior? When I looked in the coop, I thought she was probably about to lay, so I gave her privacy but she's still there hours later and it's the pushing motion that has me concerned. Should I be worried? Is this a sign of being egg bound?

 

[bluema]

You might want to check this article, especially if your bird start walking oddly. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/egg-binding-symptoms-treatment-and-prevention

When birds begin to lay, they can have some labor issues.
I have a security cam installed in the coop and was able to figure out why I occasionally see eggs in the middle of coop instead in the nest box. For example, one of my Easter Egger was in a nest box for hours one day but didn't lay an egg. However, I found an egg on the floor of the coop the next day and was able to see through recorded footage that she ended up laying the egg while she was rooting in the middle of the night. She laid another egg later that day, which made her lay 2 in 24 hours.

I would keep an eye on her, and follow the treatment procedure on the article if necessary.

 

[RubyNala97]

You might want to check this article, especially if your bird start walking oddly. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/egg-binding-symptoms-treatment-and-prevention

When birds begin to lay, they can have some labor issues.  
I have a security cam installed in the coop and was able to figure out why I occasionally see eggs in the middle of coop instead in the nest box. For example, one of my Easter Egger was in a nest box for hours one day but didn't lay an egg. However, I found an egg on the floor of the coop the next day and was able to see through recorded footage that she ended up laying the egg while she was rooting in the middle of the night. She laid another egg later that day, which made her lay 2 in 24 hours.

I would keep an eye on her, and follow the treatment procedure on the article if necessary.

Yes, thank you. I read that. She's out of the nest box and seems to be acting normal. I don't know her that well since she's new here, so I'm not sure what's "normal" behavior for her. I will keep a close eye on her! I'm hoping that she's just getting used to the nest box.

 

[bluema]

I could totally understand your concern. When my Light Brahma started laying, she would sit in a nest box for hours panting with no results. I ended up wearing a latex glove to see if she was egg bound but felt nothing. I don't think she enjoyed that! From then on, I just give them time and none of them ever walked or stood like a penguin. The LB is a super efficient egg laying machine now. You're probably already aware, but chickens are pretty hardy resilient animals as long as you give them good environment, and I give them human probiotics every now and then to perk them up.