Best way to get only one hen's eggs....

[lizrndiver]

So I have 4 Buff Sussex as part of my 20 hen flock. I have a Buff Sussex rooster. I have had a request for eggs from my Buffs to help expand another breeder's bloodline.

Only one of my hens is appropriate from a genetic standpoint. The chicks from her and my roo should be high quality. What is the best way to separate her from the group so that I can get only her eggs?

I don't really want to put her in a separate coop by herself because I fear it will through her laying off. Also I don't want to mess up the pecking order too bad by pulling her and then re-introducing her to the flock.

Is there any way to kind of keep her with the group, but separate? I do have a small coop from when I only had 4 hens. I could put her in there with my Dominique. Their eggs are very different.

I am open to suggestions.

Thanks,

Liz

 

[NancyP]

Do you know when she usually lays? Maybe you could put her in a holding area till she lays and then let her out with everyone else the rest of the time, and repeat this each day.

 

[lizrndiver]

Unfortunately she tends to lay in the early afternoon. Which means I am at work.

I hate the idea of penning her up for a week by herself.

Hmmmm

 

[debilorrah]

Do you have another hen that lays a different color egg? For example, I have a BR roo in with BR's and white leghorns. The BR eggs are brown, the white leghorns are white.

Edited to add: If you put her by herself she will probably stop laying. Chickens are flock animals and NEED at least one other.

 

[ParadisePoultry]

This is a quote frm Pathfinder's Farm


I pedigree breed my Dutch Bantams, and have put together some simple techniques that allow me to determine
right from the start who are the sire and dam of a given bird. When creating breeding pens I work with trios, one
cock, two hens. When the hens are laying well and I am ready to collect eggs to hatch, I take each hen in turn,
and using food coloring (available at any grocery store), drop a few drops into her vent of a particular color. I
may use red for one hen, blue for the other. Then in my notebook (good record keeping is crucial!) I note which
hen has which color by her leg band, and the band number of the cock in with her.

During the first few minutes the majority of the food coloring is passed by the hens with feces, but there is
always enough left to mark eggs for the next several days. Once an egg is laid, if you use bright light, you can
see streaks of color left by the vent on the egg. This allows you to mark the egg with the hen’s band number and
date of lay. Store your hatching eggs as usual, and set within a week. Each pen will need only enough colors for
the number of hens in it, I find red, blue, and green to be the best to use, yellow can be used but is sometimes
hard to see on the egg.

 

[lizrndiver]

Quote:
This is awesome. I suppose since it is food grade, it is not harmful to the hen either.
I'm going to try it.

Liz