Too young to lay an egg, what’s going on?

[Sylverfly]

I know there’s a post/debate about an eight week old egg layer but is it possible for a 12 week old to try and lay an egg. I have a 12 week old EE who is huge for her age who is acting like she is going to lay an egg. She goes away from the other hens and puts her tail up at a weird angle and make a series of bawking sounds. If another hen goes near while shes doing this she shakes and runs off. Also she seems to be relaxing and tightening her butt area like straining (she’s still pooping by the way, so its not that) I have a few other chickens acting strange as well a Rhode Island Red, and a Red Sexlink. They seem to be making nests (sort of) and being very protective of them. The Rhode Island red has a pretty red face but not a big comb or anything not sure about the EE having a red face, she has the puffy feathers so its hard to tell. I thought I saw an egg emerging from the EE once but before I could be sure she stopped straining and ran off. Any thoughts, information, or personal experiences would be appreciated here. Thanks.

 

[terri9630]

I don't know much about chickens, but my RIR's are 20 weeks old now and I got my first tiny egg on June 11th. I have 9 RIR's and I'm getting around 6 eggs a day.

 

[Sylverfly]

I always heard it was around 20 weeks or later when they start to lay and none of my other chickens 30 minus 3 are acting like they are preparing to lay eggs. Maybe those 3 are just excited to lay eggs and are pretending or something weird. If I find any eggs (not likely) within the next few days I’ll post a pic of where I found it and its size.

- Has anyone else ever had hens that acted like they were going to lay eggs this early. Just wondering, if so please let me know.