Yippee! i discovered our first two eggs this morning. nesting box is almost finished. but my girls found a dark corner. boys got to one egg before me but the other was perfect. how can you tell which one layed the egg? Personally i can't sit out there at dawn to watch so i was wondering if there is a physical sign. two of my girls had ruffled bum feathers, could it have been them? So excited you would think i layed them!
Congrats, nothing beats those first eggs. Unless you look at their bum and see it moist and more oblong and large than the nonlayers, I don't think you can really tell. That is how I was told to tell, pretty soon, all your girls will be laying and it won't matter. Also, my layers don't usually lay early, but when newly laying it can happen at odd times. For instance, I went out to turn fans on this morning at 7:45 before I left for work and no one was laying yet, but there will be eggs by noon I guarantee it, then a few more by 3 or 4. Also, if you are out there, I've found that mine's tail pulsates (for lack of better word), up and down for a few minutes before laying. We are new to this, so I've spent considerable time trying to figure this out too.