Breed question! Eggs don’t match breeds?

[2x2farming]

So my girls (or at least A girl) just started laying this week for their first time. Exciting!!! However, I am confused now because we received 4 olive eggs and we have hens that are 3 separate breeds… and all are supposed to lay brown eggs from what I know. So now I’m questioning what we have in our flock.

We are supposed to have:
Production blues
Black Australorps
Bielefelders

What lays eggs that look like these beauties?? I’m wondering if we have bielefelders or if we ended up with partridge olive eggers. They look so similar from pictures, I can’t tell. Only thing I have noticed is bielefelders are usually late layers at around 22 weeks old and partridge olive eggers lay between 16-20 weeks. All of our chickens are 20 weeks old.

I didn’t watch anyone lay an egg yet so I can’t verify who it was. But those are the 3 breeds we are supposed to have but we are getting olive eggs somehow. Who is the culprit?

This is what they looked like when younger in case that helps! The “bielefelders” had the chipmunk stripe… but I see now that partridge olive eggers have that too?

 

[FunClucks]

Catch the bird you think is laying. Put a dab of food coloring in the inside of her vent. Once the daily egg is laid, if it has a smudge of food coloring on it, you've correctly identified the laying hen.

Alternatively, you can put the potential culprit in a large wire dog crate in the run (in the shade) for the day with her own food and water, and if the egg appears in the crate, it's her. No egg, do it again tomorrow. Eventually someone will lay and you will have your answer.

 

[2x2farming]

Catch the bird you think is laying. Put a dab of food coloring in the inside of her vent. Once the daily egg is laid, if it has a smudge of food coloring on it, you've correctly identified the laying hen.

Alternatively, you can put the potential culprit in a large wire dog crate in the run (in the shade) for the day with her own food and water, and if the egg appears in the crate, it's her. No egg, do it again tomorrow. Eventually someone will lay and you will have your answer.

This is a great idea!! Wow thanks!

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Your barred ones look like Bielefelders. You have no production blue hens that I can see, they’re all either barred or black. How many black ones do you have? I would be suspicious that all of them are olive eggers.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

If you do the food coloring thing, use gel coloring, not water-based. And use a Q-tip or wear gloves.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Correct, that is one of the production blues! (Rhode Island blue)

Production blues aren't bearded nor pea combed. They're Single Combed, & Beardless.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Yes! We have exactly one chicken with muffs! The rooster always picks on that one specifically so we weren’t sure if it was another rooster or if it was a female that needed to be put in place a lot.

I don’t have any recent photos of their faces.. I will have to get some when it is light and report back.

I obviously do! It’s the only egg we are getting right now but I haven’t been able to catch who is laying.

This is the one I Circled. It's an EE, or Olive Egger.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

Of course they came from TSC We knew there was a risk but I never expected olive eggers.

There are Bielefelders of hatchery quality. The barring on females is muddled and typically evident in the fluff- very subtle. Eggs will be light salmon color and slight sheen.
Pics of 2 of mine from McMurrays- The hackles varied from golden to reddish brown.