Confused On how this is happening.

[FarmMomof3]

Ok so I have a mixed flock. I have 5 ISA Brown hens who are over 1 year old. I also have 13 almost 5 month old Danish Brown Leghorn Hens.

The Danish browns have yet to lay an egg. So I've been getting 4-5 ISA Brown eggs a day. As you know ISA's lay brown eggs and Danish Brown's lay white. Today I picked 7 eggs in various degrees of colour.. 1 was very light brown (more like a manilla colour) and it went darker from that on until i hit a regular ISA Brown egg.
Hubby says that the younger hens must be starting to lay.. because we haven't gotten 7 eggs in a very long time (back when we had 7 laying ISA's)
I don't think the younger hens are laying at all.. because those should be WHITE eggs.. and None of them are white.

I asked if 1 hen could lay more than once in a day... Hubby said that he's never seen it himself but heard it could happen. When I put the chickens away last night there were NO eggs at all.. I had picked them all earlier yesterday.

I have no idea how I'm getting an extra 2 eggs unless the younger hens are laying... Does anyone with Danish Browns have colour variations in thier eggs? I mean these eggs look like ISA eggs. the lightest one looks like an ISA. I'm confused. I've never had Danish Browns before.

I do have Roosters as well.. I have 3 Danish Brown Roosters... So maybe I'm getting crossed eggs? The roosters are the same age as the danish hens.

I am totally confused. If my younger hens are starting to lay then I should have a maxium of 18 eggs a day. I know that not all starting hens will start laying at once... and maybe this is just the start of them laying... but they don't look like WHITE eggs!!!

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[ChicKat]

Here's what I think, due to the numbers you have more than your ISA browns laying. Due to the colors, the Danish Browns may possibly have some other breeding mixed in.

 

[FarmMomof3]

I don't see how it's possible that my Danish Brown are somehow mixed. I got them from a good hatchery that has never had issues like this before.

I think Maybe it's just that my ISA's laid late one day and then early again the next

 

[m_shuman]

I just recently had something similar to me. I was told by the feed store that I had White Leghorns and the black in their feathers was a result of crossbreeding at the hatchery to increase prooduction and then my pullet started laying brown eggs. I have since decided there is no way she is a leghorn. The feed store is blaming the hatchery for mislabeling the baby chicks (come to find out I am not the only customer with this problem.) Maybe the same thing happened to you? Maybe the hatchery had some kind of a mixup. The hatchery That my birds came from was Ideal.

 

[FarmMomof3]

I mean it's possible... but The hatchery shipped the chicks right to my door..

The Hens look exactly like what a Danish Brown should look like....
So far today I've only had 3 eggs.. all brown

 

[Pebbles]

My 12 girls are 3 years old. It has been really hot here. They will give me 4-5 eggs on day and then 8 the next. I always collect at the same time each evening. I thought I read somewhere the hens lay on a 18-21 hour cycle so some days you can have more than another.

 

[m_shuman]

Quote:
The chicks we got from the feed store looked just like white leghorn chicks.

 

[loiseee]

I got some bantam pullets, with clips on the right wing, well, they turned out to be roosters, also from Ideal via Atwoods, Atwoods said it was Ideals fault, Ideal said they do not sex the bantams so had 2 roos to give away.



Lois

 

[ChicKat]

Quote:
Well, that makes sense. All the eggs that are that color are from your ISA Browns, and you Danish have yet to start, and when they do their eggs will be the right color. Keep us posted.

 

[Nematocyst]

Try separating them, if you can for a few days. Then you'll know for sure who's doing what.