Possible first egg struggles?

[lulubird]

I think one of my Easter Eggers is trying to lay her first egg (she's at 22.5 weeks). I noticed this morning that she was extremely vocal (actually, the chickens have been noisy for the past couple of days), and she's been walking around sort of hunched up with her tail sticking up. I've seen her straining several times over the course of the morning, and her vent has white discharge around it. On a couple of occasions, I've seen what looks like an egg start to come out, but then pull back in. She's eating and drinking, though not with great enthusiasm, and seems a little restless. Should I intervene? Or just let her try to work it out for a while? None of my chickens have laid yet, so I'm not sure if I'm worrying unnecessarily, or whether there's something wrong.

 

[lulubird]

...and just after I posted the message, I went out to check on the chickens again and found her egg! She laid it off the roost, and it's a little cracked, but at least it's out of her! She seemed much happier too.

 

[silkieroo]

Thats AWESOME!! Congrats!