So I thought my chicken was squatting, until I realized I'm not 100% sure on what squatting is. So are there different versions of squatting? Like one might be when you walk up to a chicken they squat or some only do it when you touch them. My dad has friends who use to have chickens and they would squat before I even touched them and it was definitly a squat. My chicken bends her knees when i touch her back and will go to the ground. Does this qualify as a "legal" squat? If she is squatting, about how long after she started will it be until she begins to lay? I have heard two weeks, is this a good estimate? Thanks for the help!
I have one that will squat if I look like I might touch her and one that squats if I touch her back. The other two never have. Which just goes to show 1) There are different "squats" and 2) They don't necessarily have to squat to lay. Are the squatters ready to lay? Probably pretty soon
For me, the tell-tale sign of a true squat was the cupping of the wings--they hold their wings out slightly in a firm, cupped position. None of my girls seemed to do this until after they started laying. I was waiting and watching for a squat to show they were ready to lay, and I really didn't know what I was looking for. But when I saw it, I knew--but by that time, she had already laid an egg!
It's just another sign of sexual maturity and so it is indirectly related to laying. Some of mine squatted before laying and some are still not especially interested in being mated even though they are laying now so they don't squat without encouragement. What you've described, I'd call it a squat of the encouragement type. As for how long between first squat and first egg, well, it's been all over the place here. My Wellies have never, ever squatted without a song and a dance, probably a tidbit and possibly a neck feather tug from the cockerel. They showed that laying was near by a reddening, growing comb while the EEs all squatted when I walked close to them a day or two before the first egg.
