¡¿Help, How do I match a chicken with an egg?!

[Tyrovive]

Thank you everyone for the replies and interest! Never thought of coloring the vent! I'm off to get food coloring, I do not want to sacrifice 4 lipsticks

One of my friends thinks that I am being to OCD about wanting to know. (She is probably right) I'll see about measuring the pelvic bones and possibly getting pictures posted of the hens. Interesting
I do want to find out the hen who is laying the smaller much thinner shelled egg though. I feed them the same layer feed, treats of sunflower seeds, crushed eggshells, fruit, veg and mealworms. Any wisdom?

 

[50-45-1]

Free choice container of oyster shell .
Crushed egg shell is fine but back it up with oyster shell. Its cheep and hens will only consume what they need.
I only have to refill my container every six months.

 

[aart]

Never thought of coloring the vent! I'm off to get food coloring,

Do it early in the morning, or they might just poop off the coloring.
Let us know how it works out.

 

[Mtnboomer]

One of my friends thinks that I am being to OCD about wanting to know.

Well, it has its benefits to confirm to also determine the good layers. We butchered some of our older flock over the weekend but couldn't finish. The last bird we grabbed for the day had an egg to full size only without shell, 2 more on the way about as big around as a quarter and a whole bundle left for the future. The Ol girl was still pumpin them out. If I knew that, we would have gotten another weeks worth of eggs from her.

 

[aart]

If I knew that, we would have gotten another weeks worth of eggs from her.

Probably a whole summers worth.
How old, in months, was she?

 

[Mtnboomer]

Probably a whole summers worth.
How old, in months, was she?

She was one of our first ever so 38 mos+

 

[Mtnboomer]

Probably a whole summers worth.
How old, in months, was she?

We will finish butchering the old birds this weekend regardless because I have young ones coming of age and moving out to the free range flock and I need the space in the coop.

 

[rosemarythyme]

One of my friends thinks that I am being to OCD about wanting to know. (She is probably right) I'll see about measuring the pelvic bones and possibly getting pictures posted of the hens. Interesting
I do want to find out the hen who is laying the smaller much thinner shelled egg though. I feed them the same layer feed, treats of sunflower seeds, crushed eggshells, fruit, veg and mealworms. Any wisdom?

True OCD is standing in the coop for 45 minutes staring at a pullet in a nest box and waiting for an egg to drop out - that's 100% confirmation right there.

For the thin shelled eggs, once you determine which hen is the layer, you can try boosting calcium intake to see if that fixes the issue, as some hens don't want to eat the eggshells you put out (you may also want to upgrade to oyster shell as the pieces supposedly last longer in the system). You can either try calcium supplements (like tablets) or do what I do: give her a private breakfast. I have a bird that doesn't want the oyster shells so 3x a week I put her in the brooder with a small portion of wet or fermented feed with oyster shell mixed in. She eats and is back out in a couple of minutes. You'll know pretty quickly if boosting calcium works as shells should start improving within a few days.

 

[aart]

True OCD is standing in the coop for 45 minutes staring at a pullet in a nest box and waiting for an egg to drop out - that's 100% confirmation right there.

I've done that.......but not constantly, still OCD?

 

[Tyrovive]

Free choice container of oyster shell .
Crushed egg shell is fine but back it up with oyster shell. Its cheep and hens will only consume what they need.
I only have to refill my container every six months.

Thank you!