How do I figure out which of my chickens is laying?

[Smartie_Pants]

I have four hens and I am getting two eggs a day. They have dug a hole in the corner and lay their eggs in it. I've got to get the box up, but we've been short on money and time lately. Here is what I have:

1 EE Hen
1 Cornish X Hen
1 Jersey Giant Hen
1 Barred Rock Hen

The eggs I am getting are pure white and about the size of medium to large eggs you get in the store. The BR and JG are supposed to lay brown eggs and these have no tint at all. The cornish cross isn't probable either. That excludes everything but the EE, and I am getting two eggs so somethings up.

Since I can't rely on egg color, how do I figure it out? I can never cach them laying and I don't even know a specific time period they are doing it in. Short of a video camera, anyone know how to figure out who it is?


Oh, and I forgot to say that I also have 5 Blue Swedish ducks who were hatched in April of this past spring so there is a possibility it could be them, but I have had many Blue Sweds and their eggs have always been much bigger than the ones I am getting. Plus the eggs are totally smooth. All the chickens except the EE were born in early July.

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

Your EE should lay green to blue tinted eggs. Our one Ameracauna lays a green egg that sometimes is really hard to tell nless up against a true white egg. Barred Rocks will be brown. My Jersey lays a whitish egg. Not pure white but close. The Cornish will lay white and usually lay earlier then the rest. Each hen will only lay one egg every 26 hours or so.

 

[Oblio13]

Look at the hole the eggs come out of!

Large, moist and flexible = layer.

Small, dry and tight = non-layer.

 

[dancingbear]

Cornish lay brown eggs, not white. Even Cornish cross hens lay brown. Jersey giants lay brown. Barred rocks lay brown. The EE could be laying a very pale egg, but not twice a day.

I would bet those are duck eggs. I had Khaki Campbells a long time ago, they laid white eggs. I know different breeds of ducks lay different colors. The KC eggs, after I washed them, I could see a spiral pattern in the shell. Very pretty. Can you see that with your white eggs? It may not be visible with the eggs of all duck breeds. The spirals are from different densities in the shell. Eggs rotate as as they move through the the passages where the shell material is deposited as it goes along. If they are duck eggs, they're get bigger as the ducks get a little older. Most birds do start out with eggs a bit smaller than they lay later.

 

[Beekissed]

Of all the methods and signs they tell you on here, there is only one I have found to be accurate. I've seen nonlayers have moist, flexible vents and space between their pubic bones just like a layer.

The one? Put on a rubber glove, get your chicken off the roost at night and insert finger into chicken....if you feel an egg, she is laying....if you don't, good chance she is not. Be gentle and do not attempt to poke the egg.

 

[cmom]

I bought some cameras originally to find out who was getting in my gardens at night and eating it up. I put a camera in the coop and watched on my TV to see who was laying. I hooked it up to a VCR. Candid camera.