After a very long period of waiting, out of the blue our little barred rock girl, Juanita, is FINALLY showing signs of being ready to lay. She suddenly got tiny wattles and a little red comb (albeit very small still, but very bright red and double the size it was a week ago), seemingly overnight. She has been squawking around the yard making all kinds of noise for about two weeks now, and today, she FINALLY squatted for me! I was so excited, it was all I could do to just pet her and not squeal with delight and scare her! Now I have hope for her and the rest of the flock because they're all 30+ weeks and not even starting to lay yet. This is the first sign with her & I got so excited, I got giddy! A good friend of mine who also has her own chooks around the same age was here & got to see, so she's hoping this is a sign her girls will start, too. That first squat seems to be the most beautiful squat in the world, doesn't it?
BTW, the young lady in question is the one whose pictures is on my avatar. That picture is about a month old.
Congrats...isn't it great when they do that!....I go around and get my squats and rub them real good by the tail...they seem to love it..I. like to think of myself as THE ROO...lol
I got more hyped about my first squat than I did my first egg!!! I got the squat (indeed, the most beautiful thing in the world) and then I told the DH- now don't get too excited...it can take like 2 weeks from the squat! We caught her fluffing the nest boxes, larger comb, etc too... So the next day, I notice her missing from the run area, and I check to see if she's in the nest box- well - much to my surprise- a perfect little green egg!!! I was almost dissapointed (don't judge me!) because I wasn't even looking for an egg!!! But I am very thankful for each and every one- but the squats STILL get me very excited It's really the only time I get to "pet" my pet chicken
I get such a kick out of chicken behavior....Cracks me right up when I walk up to one of our girls and they squat and stomp their little feet a bit! Although, the first time I saw one of our chickens squat (when I was trying to pet her), I thought she was trying to get away from me--like she didn't want anyone touching her..
Must confess, I got pretty excited about my first squat, too!!! Eggs soon, friend! Brightest Blessings!
This is such a relief! It has seemed my wait has been even longer than most because I bought this chicken (and her flockmates) having been told they were at least 2-3 months older than they were. Even once their actual ages were determined, they have all still been very slow to lay. Her actual age is somewhere between 30 and 32 weeks now, so we are glad she's even squatting! The EEs are the only ones laying, but they actually WERE older than the rest!
I, too, share your joy! I have a GLW who has very recently begun to lay, and she commenced with the first egg, within a week of squatting. She has become a daily layer, but the rest of her brooder mates still have pale combs and show no inclination to squat yet. We celebrate the small steps! Hope the blessed event occurs soon!
