How do you know who laid what?

[RedDrgn]

We got our first egg the morning of Christmas Eve. We got a second egg on the 26th, and a third on the 27th. They have all looked just like this:

Light brown, medium-sized eggs that we're guessing have all come from the same chicken.

We're ecstatic, but we can't figure out who the responsible bird is! Our wellie had been in the lead with her general development (comb/wattles/vent), but our BA quickly caught up and surpassed her two weeks ago. Within the last week, our BR is right there with the BA. Our EE is so hard to tell because she's only got the pea comb (it's the same general redness at the BA and BR, though). The wellie and dom seem like they're right about there, too.

We're pretty sure that it's not the wellie and we're hoping it's not the EE (

for blue/green from her). It could be the dom, but we're pretty sure it's either the BA or BR. No matter how much we stalk the buggers, we haven't caught anyone laying (though we've caught every single one of them checking out the nest boxes at various times). No one has even made an attempt at an egg song and they're all behaving in their usual chicken ways. I don't think there is much difference between BR and BA eggs, or even EE or doms at this point, is there? Is there anyway to tell who did it other than to hone our ninja skills and catch the bugger in the act somehow?

 

[aoxa]

They look like my BR's eggs

Once you see the chicken who laid the egg.. Like caught them in the act, you will be able to pick the same egg out and know who it belongs to. Some people can. I can..

 

[cravenchx]

My EE's were the last to lay, probably not them.

 

[Frost Homestead]

I'd say the egg song but you say they're not singing. The only really way I can tell is to see who came out of the coop and then go in and see if there's a still warm egg. It's probably not your EE laying it, and it's very light for a wellie. good luck figuring out who laid it!

 

[RedDrgn]

Whoever it is is apparently darn quick about it, we do know that!

Whenever we've gone out and actually found an egg, either no one was in the coop or 2-3 of them were. IT'S A CONSPIRACY!

 

[aoxa]

Quote:
Only one lays an egg fast. My mutt takes FOREVER. She was in the nesting box for a good 90+ minutes yesterday.

 

[RedDrgn]

Quote:
Only one lays an egg fast. My mutt takes FOREVER. She was in the nesting box for a good 90+ minutes yesterday.

We're going to need to put a glue pad in ours or something. The day we found one in the afternoon, we have no idea how we missed it. We were out with them for several hours and then checking on them/in their immediate vicinity/view every 15-20 minutes or so from dawn to 3pm (when we found the egg). Someone's well lubed.

 

[Dora'smom]

It looks a lot like my BR's eggs. Our Welsummer layed light for her breed, but still in the terra cotta range, and our BA lays a little darker than that. All of our EE's were late to start, so I think the winner is. . . The Barred Rock! Ours started laying earlier than all the other breeds, too.

 

[RedDrgn]

So it looks like two votes for Kevin.....she is a wiley one, too....perfect attitude for this ninja laying.

 

[RedDrgn]

So we figured out who the layer is - Artemis, our BA! Caught her in the nest box Saturday morning, and then Sunday afternoon. On Monday, while we were out in the yard with them, she stopped her grazing in the grass with the rest of the flock to jog back to the run and into the coop. I followed and when I peeked in, she was sitting in a nest box peeking back. 10 minutes later she came running back out and resumed her grazing, and a warm brown egg was in the box.

That was her 8th egg in 10 days. No one else has done a thing, yet...bunch of freeloaders.