How do you know??

[Love-my-girls]

I’m going to ask a stupid question.
How do people know what hen is laying what egg?
I hear people all the time saying they are so glad that so-and-so laid again, or this hen lays lighter colored...
Are these only people who spend all day in the coop watching which hen is laying?
I don’t get it.
I pay pretty close attention to my flock, but there is no way I have a clue which one is doing what.
I mean, I know that Blanca lays enormous eggs, because she’s the only white leghorn I had when it was happening.
I know my blue and green ones come from the EEs. But which? No clue.

We have a coop cam so I can sit in my living room and watch the hens going in out of their boxes. I thought it was a ridiculous idea when my husband installed it, but we have watched and learned quite a bit about our hens this way. I particularly like watching their nighttime roosting activity.
it’s better than watching regular TV!

I’m going to ask a stupid question.
How do people know what hen is laying what egg?
I hear people all the time saying they are so glad that so-and-so laid again, or this hen lays lighter colored...
Are these only people who spend all day in the coop watching which hen is laying?
I don’t get it.
I pay pretty close attention to my flock, but there is no way I have a clue which one is doing what.
I mean, I know that Blanca lays enormous eggs, because she’s the only white leghorn I had when it was happening.
I know my blue and green ones come from the EEs. But which? No clue.

 

[rosemarythyme]

We have a coop cam so I can sit in my living room and watch the hens going in out of their boxes. I thought it was a ridiculous idea when my husband installed it, but we have watched and learned quite a bit about our hens this way.

I should get a 2nd camera. My coop cam is pointed at the roosts (as I was trying to make things easier on hubby at night, so he could do head count without going in) but nests are under the camera, so I can't watch what birds are using nest boxes with my current camera placement.

 

[birdlady11]

When I want to know which egg any particular hen is laying, I find the easiest way is to isolate that particular hen with her own nest box for a day or so. One hen, one nest box, one egg and bingo! You know exactly what her eggs look like. Knowing which hens like which boxes also helps narrow it down.

 

[AnnaWolf]

I can see my hens enter their nestbox, so i cought them in the act

 

[sloanbychoice]

I’ve become determined lately to try to figure out who did what. So, paying close attention each day to shape and texture, and process of elimination, I believe I can now identify six of my 17. Better than the two I knew before!!

 

[Granitestater]

I'm a semi-retired business owner so I have quite a bit more time to hang with my chickens than a lot of people do.
Chicken watching is my favorite hobby. I have 20 gorgeous girls and a big, beautiful rooster. I know almost everyone's egg by shape or color, but I do have a few that lay similar eggs that I can't identify unless I catch them in the act.
Also, my hens make so much noise when they lay that it isn't any problem knowing "who did it". Lol

Oh aren't they proud when they lay? And in the beginning the whole fl ock, led by the boys would come to see and seemingly congratulate the girls! My husband thinks they're amazing as do i

 

[Granitestater]

Part of it is anticipating a new layer as well, at least for me. Comb becomes bright red, body fills out more, squatting for me...I'm watching her closely because I know she's going to be laying soon. Then yeah, differences in egg color, shape, size, "mottling," texture, location, etc. I have 3 white layers and even with them, the largest egg comes from the ancona, the pointier one that gets laid in a random nesting box away from the main ones but different every time is the Ideal236, and the medium sized white one in the main nesting boxes is the golden Campine.

This year is chaotic for me as I have about 15 pulleys slowly coming into lay as well as my older girls starting back up and many of them have differences after their break, so all in all I'm learning around 30 hens. Some I catch early and often as they lay early in the day when I can hear them and go out immediately. Others lay in the afternoon when I'm less likely to be at home. Took me almost 2 years to figure out it is my barred rock laying the jumbo egg, not the RIR lol eventually I'll get enough coops set up to break them into smaller groups because with my personality, I just HAVE to know

What breed is in your cover picture and what do her eggs look like? She's lovely.

 

[Granitestater]

We have a coop cam so I can sit in my living room and watch the hens going in out of their boxes. I thought it was a ridiculous idea when my husband installed it, but we have watched and learned quite a bit about our hens this way. I particularly like watching their nighttime roosting activity.
it’s better than watching regular TV!

Is that a warmer you have on the wall? How do you like it? Is it radiant so safer?

 

[GC-Raptor]

I believe I can now identify six of my 17. Better than the two I knew before!!

You're 1/3 of the way! I'm cheering you on. .
I only had 5 pullets in my first Flock and 7 in my second. Easy-peasy.
Well sort of. My Flocks consists of the same breed/hybrid in each Flock.
But the eggs do have differences. Shape, shade and texture, (smooth or rough) shell.

Having time on weekends to watch chickens in the morning helps identity who's laying what.
Also with a small flock, there are days when I get the same number of eggs as hens. GC

 

[sloanbychoice]

I have just one egg each time, same egg, that feels just as rough as can be. Do you guys think that’s a concern, or is it just her particular way of forming eggs? All other hens are laying about the same texture, fairly smooth, but this one comes out rough.