Weird or normal?

[calichick123]

My 5 month old hen is exhibiting odd behavior that I am pretty sure just means she is about to start laying. My question though is about another hen that is responding oddly. While the first hen is sitting in her nest or roosting on the shelf, the 2nd hen stays right by her side. One time I peeked on and she was actually on top of her, straddling the 1st hens head. Why isn't she with the other chickens? Is it normal for the other chickens to act oddly while one is about to lay? So far no eggs from any of the pullets.

 

[wyatt015]

She may be able to tell she wants to start laying does your chicken sing the "egg song"?

 

[calichick123]

This pic is hard to see, but hopefully you can see the black hen on top of the first, straddling her head. What on earth???? They were both being really noisy but now are quietly being weird.

 

[calichick123]

Ok new development. The black hen is still sitting on top, is panting like it is hot (it is not hot) and tucks the head down by the others butt. And there was some bad diarrhea in the run. Is this looking more like illness?

 

[calichick123]

I tried putting some moist food near their beaks and they don't move. They just stare forward, and have beaks open.

 

[wyatt015]

They may be a couple lol. It could be panting because chickens don't have sweat glands like humans do and that's the reason dogs pant too.