FIRST EGG!!

[Keira1st]

We got our first egg today!! The problem is we don’t know whose it is. My oldest silkie hen is only five months but it looks like a silkie egg. The other hen is a few weeks younger and was very upset today after we took the egg. Neither was near it. They are both so young and this was such a shock. I wasn’t expecting eggs anytime soon. How do I tell whose it is??

 

[black_cat]

What color is it? What breed is your other one?

 

[BGcoop]

Do the pelvic bone check

 

[black_cat]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/
The one laying will have a larger, redder comb, it may squat when you try to pick it up, and it will be showing interest in nesting boxes/areas.

 

[BGcoop]

feel for the bones on either side of the vent. A laying bird will have these bones at least two finger widths apart. A non laying bird’s bones can often both be felt with the same finger. there is a thread somewhere here with pictures if you need that, a quick search should find it. This is more definitive than the comb redness/squat test when there are multiple birds close to laying.

 

[Keira1st]

What color is it? What breed is your other one?

I have three silkie hens and two three month old salmon favorelle. The egg is very tiny, not much larger than a dollar coin, it’s white.

 

[Sally PB]

Congratulations! First eggs are magical. I saved the shell of mine, and I smile when I see it.

 

[black_cat]

I have three silkie hens and two three month old salmon favorelle. The egg is very tiny, not much larger than a dollar coin, it’s white.

Pullet eggs can be tiny. Check all the vents following the instructions of the link I posted-also: if the vent looks moist and you can look at it and thing 'this could get big enough for an egg' then they're laying. If it's small and dry and it doesn't look like an egg could go through, then not laying. It's easier when you've seen both types.