I have eight hens and a female duck who are all at the laying age (I also have some roosters and a drake). The two older hens are 6 months old and the younger ones are 5 months old. One hen (I suspect it to be Mabel---a 6 month old BO) began laying about two weeks ago. She (whoever it is) lays her eggs at night and on the ground (which is a whole other issue) so I haven't "caught" who is actually laying yet. A few days ago I noticed there were two eggs and one had a slightly different texture, leading me to believe another hen started laying (this one was also on the ground, so I fear that since the first egg layer lays on the ground that all of my hens will begin to do the same instead of using the nest boxes). I assumed it was Blanche, the other 6 month old BO. However, last night or the night before I noticed Mimi (a 5 month old barnyard mix) laying in an odd position on the ground. I have never seen a hen lay an egg, but it looked exactly like I would expect. But after watching her for awhile she moved and there was no egg. I thought maybe she would lay one later on that night but the next morning there was no egg. This morning I found her in the same funny position on the ground (I've since looked up pictures and she looked the a hen laying an egg). Again, after she moved....no egg. The weirdest part was this: in addition to holding up her tail feathers and squatting on the ground, for a period of time she also had her legs lifted off of the ground (supporting herself by her body) sticking straight out in the air. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? Do chickens ever stick out their legs like that? Also, if she's not laying eggs, could this behavior be indicative of a medical problem?
Thanks!
Thanks!