Is there such a thing as a “pre-broody” chicken???

[NorthFLChickenChick]

My Black Australorp is 16 weeks old, has not laid an egg yet, and when I let the girls out to free range and the others are foraging or taking dirt baths, lately this is what she has been doing. Also, very vocal and nervous around the coop, reminding me a bit of when my Golden Comets first started laying. This is a brand new flock and they are naive to egg laying although I’ve had their nesting boxes out for about a month with fake eggs and they’ve been exploring.

 

[aart]

She may be thinking about laying right there.
Hard to say if this is "pre-broody"or not.
Time will tell.