what clues are there to know when a chicken is going to start laying eggs

[subhanalah]

Our ugly mutt chicken just laid her 1st egg.  It too is ugly! LOL  I'm so excited I just had to share.

This pullet hatched from an egg that was stored in the fridge waiting to be cooked for breakfast.  While loading up the incubator, my daughter asked to add this particular egg made by her fav hen.  Surprisingly it hatched after being in the fridge for over 3 days.  We named the chick Omelet, & it soon became a favorite.  Omelet's dad is an EE that hatched from a pink egg & her mom is a barnyard mix who lays simple brown eggs.  Omelet looks nothing like either parent.  At times she barely looked like a chicken.  (Had no tail for a very long time, odd comb, & no cheeks.)  Now she's making olive green eggs.  Where did that color come from???  I expected pinkish or brown.  The mom must have quite an unusual mix. I included a pic of the green egg next to our pink, brown & blue eggs.  I also included pics of our ugly chicken growing up.

I think she's a beautiful chicken. She even has a designer name "olive egger." many people try very hard for this in their pallette.

 

[Faraday40]

Here are the parents of our chicken mutt.
Dad= Brownie: Hatched from a pink egg given to me by a farm that used to show chickens. The man decided to get out of it & just allowed his show chickens to free range for egg sales. He had many Amerucanas, so I've always said Brownie's an EE (without cheeks). He was my daughter's fav & even allowed her to play dress up. It took us about a year to find him a good home. We still miss him, but decided to keep one of his female offspring. My daughter chose Omelet.



Precious: She's a true backyard mix. We have no idea how many breeds are in her, but her exceptional personality is one of a kind. She will stand on top of our feet until she's picked up. She constantly "talks" and is at the bottom of the pecking order.


Because both parents are so incredible, we have high hope for our "ugly chicken." Omelet looks nothing like either parent. The olive egg really took us by surprise.

 

[LauraSac]

Here are the parents of our chicken mutt.
Dad= Brownie: Hatched from a pink egg given to me by a farm that used to show chickens. The man decided to get out of it & just allowed his show chickens to free range for egg sales. He had many Amerucanas, so I've always said Brownie's an EE (without cheeks). He was my daughter's fav & even allowed her to play dress up. It took us about a year to find him a good home. We still miss him, but decided to keep one of his female offspring. My daughter chose Omelet.



Precious: She's a true backyard mix. We have no idea how many breeds are in her, but her exceptional personality is one of a kind. She will stand on top of our feet until she's picked up. She constantly "talks" and is at the bottom of the pecking order.


Because both parents are so incredible, we have high hope for our "ugly chicken." Omelet looks nothing like either parent. The olive egg really took us by surprise.

Very pretty parents! Omelet looks so young to be laying. I love her egg! Wow!

 

[Faraday40]

Very pretty parents! Omelet looks so young to be laying. I love her egg! Wow!

Thanks. Omelet is young, but that's a baby pic above. She was 17 weeks & 2 days old when she made her 1st egg. I was not expecting any eggs until mid September. The other chicks we kept are a Crested Cream Legbar & a few Orpingtons. I'm sure we'll be waiting a while for those Orpington eggs.

 

[Quickster]

Your OP post had me cracking up. I don't think omelet is ugly. I think she is really cool looking. A very one of a kind chickie. I like her egg too.

 

[evemfoster]

Here are the parents of our chicken mutt.
Dad= Brownie: Hatched from a pink egg given to me by a farm that used to show chickens. The man decided to get out of it & just allowed his show chickens to free range for egg sales. He had many Amerucanas, so I've always said Brownie's an EE (without cheeks). He was my daughter's fav & even allowed her to play dress up. It took us about a year to find him a good home. We still miss him, but decided to keep one of his female offspring. My daughter chose Omelet.



Precious: She's a true backyard mix. We have no idea how many breeds are in her, but her exceptional personality is one of a kind. She will stand on top of our feet until she's picked up. She constantly "talks" and is at the bottom of the pecking order.


Because both parents are so incredible, we have high hope for our "ugly chicken." Omelet looks nothing like either parent. The olive egg really took us by surprise.

If you are interested in how the egg colors come out with EE's this old thread does a decent job explaining the colors.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/720118/ee-egg-colors

 

[LauraSac]

Penny's egg this morning had texture. It's almost like broken shell pieces stuck on the shell. What would cause this?

 

[evemfoster]

Penny's egg this morning had texture. It's almost like broken shell pieces stuck on the shell. What would cause this?

Its just a little extra calcium deposit. No biggie. Its just part of getting the kinks out. Like everything else with chicken eggs, one odd egg is not an indication of a huge problem.

If you want to read up on the weird eggs this is a good page.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems

 

[LauraSac]

Its just a little extra calcium deposit. No biggie. Its just part of getting the kinks out. Like everything else with chicken eggs, one odd egg is not an indication of a huge problem.

If you want to read up on the weird eggs this is a good page.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems

Thank you! This morning's egg is normal.

 

[lnelmidwife]

Yep - exactly that! and this is what I found today - first egg ever. Laid by our 20 wk old Red Sex-link. She did all that squat-down-like-she-was-frozen thing too! As well as being VERY clucky all morning. I knew something was up!