The ladies are making me nuts!!!

[aart]

Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop/run for a week or so can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. Fake eggs/golf balls in the nests can help 'show' them were to lay. They can be confined to coop and maybe run 24/7 for a few days to a week, provided you have adequate space and ventilation, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it. ..at least for a good while, then repeat as necessary.

 

[Kidwantschickens]

Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop/run for a week or so can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. Fake eggs/golf balls in the nests can help 'show' them were to lay. They can be confined to coop and maybe run 24/7 for a few days to a week, provided you have adequate space and ventilation, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it. ..at least for a good while, then repeat as necessary.

Thank you and this is my plan. They didn't have access to their nest box cuz I didn't realize anybody was laying already so I had it pinned over so they wouldn't get used to roasting in there and then I opened it up and most of them were laying in there for sure. Like there's at least half of the flock that seems to consistently play in the nest boxes, but I would assume more our lane but maybe not with the heat that we had and them being so young. Maybe the rest just aren't even laying yet.

 

[Kidwantschickens]

Thanks so much for all the replies!!!!

 

[Idaho Chicken Bungalow]

Ok so here is the last 2+ weeks of eggs.
View attachment 3256227View attachment 3256228
I have a very mixed flock of chickens. 1 of each speckled Sussex, buff Orpington, buff brahma, prairie Bluebell, Bielefelder, salmon Faverolle, cuckoo Marans, Sapphire gem, polish, and the mystery chicken that I'm now sure is a blue french copper Marans but I have no clue how. And then two Easter eggers.

The Easter eggers, the sapphire gem and the cuckoo Marans lay almost every day. We get 4-5 eggs a day. Out of 12. The polish isn't laying yet from what I know. She's my only white egg layer.

I can't tell the prairie Bluebell from the EEs. I suspect this one might be hers.View attachment 3256232

And then I think this is the speckled Sussex
View attachment 3256235

I think this is the SF (first and only I've seen) it's next to two store bought eggs to show the pinkish brown.
View attachment 3256238

I have two dark Brahmas, one lays the small lightest pinkish egg while the other girl lays a large light brown egg. Same age came for the same hatch date. My SF jst started laying and they are small almost cream pink.

 

[Idaho Chicken Bungalow]

Beautiful rainbow eggs! I've tried to get a blue egger, but they all turn into roosters.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Beautiful rainbow eggs! I've tried to get a blue egger, but they all turn into roosters.

You really have had lousy luck with that. I'm so sorry.

 

[Kidwantschickens]

Ok so today we got 6 eggs! More than we've ever gotten! Usually we get 4, 5 max....

As far as new eggs go, the light speckled egg is new. I'm assuming three different hens layed these three eggs?

 

[Kidwantschickens]

So the below pics are of the 6 we got today. The marked up picture shows what I think layed it: bfcm= blue french copper Marans; cm = cuckoo Marans; sg = sapphire gem; BB = prairie blue bell. Ee a given.

 

[Kidwantschickens]

Does anyone have any guesses on who laid the light brown speckles egg? And do you all agree that the three eggs were laid by 3 different hens or are the two dark brown speckled eggs from the same? The one on the bottom of the pictured three eggs was not laid yesterday, it was from a previous day. And it is so much larger, I would think it is a different hen.

That said, with the size of these eggs, there has to be a nest somewhere. These don't look like "just starting to lay" eggs to me. For the life of me I can't find their nest though.

 

[RubelliteRose]

Eggs are tricky lol. I thought French marans and cuckoo marans laid similar color eggs with the cuckoo being slightly lighter, so it is hard to say if the 2 dark eggs are from the same or different girls.
In theory, you should have 3 blue/green egg layers, but have you ever had a day where you have collected 3 blue eggs? To confuse matters, it is possible that one of your EEs laid the tan speckled egg. I have 1 EE and 2 OE that don't lay Blue/green eggs.
I also found a picture of the only day all 13 of my hens laid on the same day. My Speckled Sussex laid #7