Hens practice laying?

Hey all, quick one...

My new chooks are finally getting ready to lay i think, they are 25 weeks and squatting etc.

Today, i watched one go into the coop, sit there for 15mins rosey gently before i left for work.

When i got back there was a chicken shaped nest dug into the shavings but no egg?

The hen isn’t upset or down so i don’t think its stuck? 

Do they practice laying or have false lays... or is it possible that the other chickens are eating the eggs - they both seemed very interested in what was going on?!  Couldn’t find any debris though...

Cheers

Lewis

My Barnevelder had a few practise runs and I was disappointed never to find an egg.    Then one day when she obviously wasn't expecting it, her first egg arrived and she laid it right where she was standing on the concrete path!    It broke, and all the chickens were feasting on it by the time I noticed.

Fortunately egg #2 and subsequent eggs were laid in the nest, once she knew how the system worked.