MY CHICKEN CAN'T LAY AN EGG!!!

She could be egg bound, which isn't uncommon with new layers. In that case, I would soak her in some warm water for 15 minutes or so and then leave her in a clean place until she (hopefully) passes the egg. Getting her to eat some extra calcium, such as in the form of oystershell, could help as well.

With that said, it is possible that nothing is wrong. It can take a while for a hen to lay an egg, and they can seem like they're pushing very hard before the egg actually comes out. If you think she's struggling, though, I would go ahead and do the soak.

 

I NEED HELP TOO!!!

I have 6 hens born at the same time and all laying age (they will be 24 weeks old on Sunday Feb 12th, 2017). 2 EE's that I don't think are ready to lay yet, 2 GLWs, and 2 Red Sex Links.

Four of them have been showing me signs that they are getting ready to drop their first eggs: Crimson Red Combs and Waddles, Doing the "Drop it like it's hot SQUAT", talking more, checking out the nest boxes, and rearranging the straw and what not. Yesterday "Sour" which is one of my Red Sex Links went into a nest box and laid an egg. Today a few of them have been in and out of the nest box and have been pushing out the fake eggs I have in there. Should I keep putting the fake eggs back in the nesting boxes? I have 8 nesting boxes and one fake in each.

*****Most importantly, Nugget who is one of my GLWs has a super bright red comb and waddles but then they fade and get REALLY pale all of a sudden and she starts to open her beak kind of like she's panting or straining but in less than a minute or so they go back to normal. Sometimes she's laying down when this happens and sometimes she's kind of squatting. She's not having a problem eating or drinking but I haven't seen her poop yet. My other GLW, Chubbers isn't doing this...her comb and waddles have been bright red all day. I doubt it's from the heat and I'm not sure if it matters but I live in Florida in the Tampa area and it isn't hot today, it's warm breezy nice weather. I would think if it was heat related all the girls would be doing it, right?

MY MAIN QUESTIONS ARE: Is this normal behavior prior to laying a first egg? Should I just leave her alone and see if she pops out a butt nugget or should I suspect that she might be egg bound and try to help her? I don't want to mess with her if it seems normal enough since I know taking her out would also affect the other 5 girls but I don't want anything bad to happen to my little Nugget. I have been out here watching them for a few hours already (I'm on chicken time) so should I just keep watching her to see if I can see her poo? Also should I be replacing the fake eggs in the nesting boxes or taking them out once a hen kicks it out?

Thank you guys so much for anyone that answers and can give me any insight as to what is happening with my girl.