diff colored eggs from same chicken??

[dunedin]

I'm trying to figure out which hen is laying the green eggs. I have three barnyard specials. The one I was almost sure it was just laid a nice cream egg! They can't change egg color can they?

 

[Aphrael]

I'm trying to figure out which hen is laying the green eggs. I have three barnyard specials. The one I was almost sure it was just laid a nice cream egg! They can't change egg color can they?

No they won't change egg colors. The eggs they lay may vary in darkness or vibrancy of color, depending upon what point of their laying cycle they are at. For example, a marans may start their laying cycle with a deep chocolate egg that lightens progressively through the cycle, until they take a break. Then the eggs start back at the darkest color. But a chicken that lays a brown egg will not suddenly lay a white or green egg one day. The egg color is coded in their genes.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

I'm trying to figure out which hen is laying the green eggs. I have three barnyard specials. The one I was almost sure it was just laid a nice cream egg! They can't change egg color can they?

Do you have a hen with black feet, or muffs and beard?

 

[dunedin]

They are 3 sisters, all have yellow legs and funny little mop tops and look very sìmilar.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Oooo, that's gonna make it tough to figure out.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

They are 3 sisters, all have yellow legs and funny little mop tops and look very sìmilar.

Post a photo of each bird and we may be able to see subtle differences that in their similarity that would point to the culprit. Another option is to confine each bird to a separate area for a day and see what each bird lays. You could even just use a dog kennel inside the coop and rotate them in one day each if you really want to know.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Most hens will lay about the same shade, size, and shape of egg day after day, but you can occasionally get some that are quite different in shade, size, or shape. They do change over time but are usually fairly consistent day to day but there are always exceptions. But as was mentioned, blue/green does not become white/brown.

There is no way to tell for sure by looking either. Even if you see a hen in one nest and later find a specific egg in there, I’ve had hens leave a nest without laying and go lay in a different nest. It can be pretty frustrating finding out what egg they do lay.

I’m trying to keep my green egg laying pullets instead of my brown egg pullets so I do need to know which hen is laying which egg. I made some nests so I could lock a hen in there if I wanted to. When I catch a hen in a nest laying, I might lock her in a nest without any eggs to see what she is laying. That’s the only way I know for sure. I mark their legs with different colored zip ties and record my results so I can keep it straight.

I’ve heard of putting food coloring in the vent early in the morning before they lay with hopes of finding colored streaks on the eggs. I haven’t tried it myself but it might work.

I’ve also heard of putting lipstick on a vent, but I certainly have not tried that. No way do I try to explain to my wife why I’m putting lipstick on a hen’s vent. Nope, no way. Not me.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Most hens will lay about the same shade, size, and shape of egg day after day, but you can occasionally get some that are quite different in shade, size, or shape. They do change over time but are usually fairly consistent day to day but there are always exceptions. But as was mentioned, blue/green does not become white/brown.

There is no way to tell for sure by looking either. Even if you see a hen in one nest and later find a specific egg in there, I’ve had hens leave a nest without laying and go lay in a different nest. It can be pretty frustrating finding out what egg they do lay.

I’m trying to keep my green egg laying pullets instead of my brown egg pullets so I do need to know which hen is laying which egg. I made some nests so I could lock a hen in there if I wanted to. When I catch a hen in a nest laying, I might lock her in a nest without any eggs to see what she is laying. That’s the only way I know for sure. I mark their legs with different colored zip ties and record my results so I can keep it straight.

I’ve heard of putting food coloring in the vent early in the morning before they lay with hopes of finding colored streaks on the eggs. I haven’t tried it myself but it might work.

I’ve also heard of putting lipstick on a vent, but I certainly have not tried that. No way do I try to explain to my wife why I’m putting lipstick on a hen’s vent. Nope, no way. Not me.

Honey? Why are there feathers on my lipstick??? LMAO

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Most hens will lay about the same shade, size, and shape of egg day after day, but you can occasionally get some that are quite different in shade, size, or shape. They do change over time but are usually fairly consistent day to day but there are always exceptions. But as was mentioned, blue/green does not become white/brown.

There is no way to tell for sure by looking either. Even if you see a hen in one nest and later find a specific egg in there, I’ve had hens leave a nest without laying and go lay in a different nest. It can be pretty frustrating finding out what egg they do lay.

I’m trying to keep my green egg laying pullets instead of my brown egg pullets so I do need to know which hen is laying which egg. I made some nests so I could lock a hen in there if I wanted to. When I catch a hen in a nest laying, I might lock her in a nest without any eggs to see what she is laying. That’s the only way I know for sure. I mark their legs with different colored zip ties and record my results so I can keep it straight.

I’ve heard of putting food coloring in the vent early in the morning before they lay with hopes of finding colored streaks on the eggs. I haven’t tried it myself but it might work.

I’ve also heard of putting lipstick on a vent, but I certainly have not tried that. No way do I try to explain to my wife why I’m putting lipstick on a hen’s vent. Nope, no way. Not me.

LOL - reminds me of the cute little story that made it's rounds on the internet a while back about the lady finding out her kids had been putting chapstick on the cat's butt because it looked chapped.

 

[Aphrael]

Most hens will lay about the same shade, size, and shape of egg day after day, but you can occasionally get some that are quite different in shade, size, or shape. They do change over time but are usually fairly consistent day to day but there are always exceptions. But as was mentioned, blue/green does not become white/brown.

There is no way to tell for sure by looking either. Even if you see a hen in one nest and later find a specific egg in there, I’ve had hens leave a nest without laying and go lay in a different nest. It can be pretty frustrating finding out what egg they do lay.

I’m trying to keep my green egg laying pullets instead of my brown egg pullets so I do need to know which hen is laying which egg. I made some nests so I could lock a hen in there if I wanted to. When I catch a hen in a nest laying, I might lock her in a nest without any eggs to see what she is laying. That’s the only way I know for sure. I mark their legs with different colored zip ties and record my results so I can keep it straight.

I’ve heard of putting food coloring in the vent early in the morning before they lay with hopes of finding colored streaks on the eggs. I haven’t tried it myself but it might work.

I’ve also heard of putting lipstick on a vent, but I certainly have not tried that. No way do I try to explain to my wife why I’m putting lipstick on a hen’s vent. Nope, no way. Not me.

I can so imagine THAT conversation!

I'm in the same situation with my pullets right now. I need to weed out the brown layers and keep the blue/green/olive layers. I'm planning to separate them one at a time in a dog kennel to find out for sure.