My Buff Orp has been singing the egg song and squatting for about a week now. This morning, she was making little cooing noises that I haven't heard her make and kept walking in and out of the coop (which she never goes in until dusk). I went ahead and shut the door to give her as much privacy as she needs plus I want her to lay in there and not somewhere in my back yard. Now one of my slightly younger chicks is going around doing the egg song thing, as if SHE has laid an egg. Too funny! How long do you think it takes a chicken to lay an egg? Fifteen minutes? Five minutes? An hour? I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!
This post says up to 12 hours to lay an egg! https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=385487
Really??!! Should I open the door to the coop and let her out or should I just put some water in there until she lays? I want to make sure all the chicks get in the habit of laying in the nesting box portion of the coop. She sure is making a ruckus in there! Everytime she sings the egg song, I go out there, open the lid and "check"...nothing. My other chickens are so nosy, too--they keep investigating the coop and making weird noises of their own (in sympathy perhaps?). They look totally confused yet intrigued by what's going on.
Mine sang for a couple of weeks before they actually laid. I checked every day too. Many times a day. lol Once I finally gave up and went back to checking just twice a day, I found they had left me a surprise. A watched pot never boils.
I love the egg song. Sometimes they just do it for fun I think. It doesn't take 12 hours to lay though. I got lucky and watched one time. It took about three minutes of squatting and squeezing. Poor thing did so much work! I felt bad. I wonder if it hurts at all?
