Mating position for hens...egg laying near?

[3peeps]

My SLW (20 weeks?) crouched down for me yesterday when I went to pick her up, and her comb and wattles are getting pretty red. I assume that we are pretty near egg-laying. I checked her abdomen and it's getting softer but the bones don't seem really wide apart, but she's a smaller bird.

I'm one of those wierd people who hasn't been worrying about when the eggs are coming....I just put up the nest box yesterday thinking I'd better get my act together before I miss the first egg.

We've been checking the girls' abdomens for a few weeks and thought we were pretty far off from laying. The Buff orp is still pretty close together, and our Australorp isn't too soft either. They get pretty irritated by the "exams".

Can it progress really quickly?

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

My meager experience is that once my Penny started crouching when i went to touch her, her first egg was just a few days later. Now i keep following her little buddy Grace around trying to pet her and hoping she will crouch. She's only 18 weeks, though, so i may have another month to wait.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

I too, have meager experience, but here it is: My most mature looking pullet first crouched for me on a Sunday morning, then laid her first egg the following Friday morning.

 

[SandraChick]

Put a couple golf balls in the next box.....gives them the idea of where to go.


Sandra

 

[3peeps]

Quote:
We just found a golf ball a half an hour ago, so it's going out there pronto.

I'm excited! This is about 5 years in the making since I first wanted hens.