how do you know?

[krimsonkitty]

Probably a duuuuummmm question, but is there any way to tell which hen is laying which egg? I only have 4 layers (with only 2 currently laying). Two should be laying blue eggs, one, pink/beige eggs and the new girl is supposed to be laying brown eggs, but hasn't yet. The only stupid idea I can come up with is maybe mark their vents with colored marker (or something) and hopefully that would stain the egg as it passed
BTW, a wild life camera or such is not an option. Just wondering if anyone else ever was curious enough to devise a method.....

 

[nuthatched]

Some people use lipstick or q tips in food coloring to mark the vents, I personally think neither I nor my hens would enjoy that. If a chicken has red ears, she lays tan or brown, white ears, white ears =cream or white eggs, and green legs mean colored eggs. Usually, anyway.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

This is what I do: Separate each hen long enough to see them lay an egg. Once they've laid it, take a picture of them WITH the egg for future reference.

 

[Mrs. K]

When you separate them, then you KNOW. Mostly I just watch, and when I see a bird in the nest, I wait a bit, and see what color the egg is.

 

[Iluveggers]

When they first started laying, my aunt and I took shifts watching in the coop. Lol. It’s too hard to keep track of 24 with so many similar colors, but we figured out the first few to lay & know each of the Easter Eggers colors (they are all different shades lol). Glad they started when it was 40 and not -4 like this week!

 

[aart]

The only stupid idea I can come up with is maybe mark their vents with colored marker (or something) and hopefully that would stain the egg as it passed

It's been done, this vid shows how.

Just wondering if anyone else ever was curious enough to devise a method.....

I have stalked the nests to 'catch them in the act'.
I have separated, but that can be stressful and cause problems.

 

[NatJ]

If a chicken has red ears, she lays tan or brown, white ears, white ears =cream or white eggs, and green legs mean colored eggs. Usually, anyway.

There are enough exceptions, especially with easter eggers, that I would not try to figure out egg color from earlobes or leg color.

is there any way to tell which hen is laying which egg?...Just wondering if anyone else ever was curious enough to devise a method.....

If you know what breed they are, that can help sort out the colors.

If you go out frequently, notice if anyone is on the nestbox, and look for eggs, you can often figure it out. And once you know one, it's easier to figure out the others, because there are fewer options left.

Putting one hen in a separate pen until you know what egg she lays can definitely work.

If you've got two pens, you can also divide chickens into pairs and re-arrange over several days to figure them all out. Put two should-be-blue together, and the other two together, and see if the colors are what you expect. Then switch, so you've got one blue and one not-blue in each group, and you'll know exactly what eggs are laid by each one. (This way takes longer than penning just one hen to see her egg, but doesn't make any hen be alone.)

 

[linguini]

In addition to all other suggestions - try following egg songs! Can you hear the egg songs from your house? if so, pay attention to them, most of the time they'll call before and after they lay eggs, especially when they just started laying. And you can retrieve the egg immediately after to find out who lays what.

We are lucky that we have one of each breed, except for two East Eggers. But they all have different signature in color and size. So even though the two EEs have same color, their egg size differ significantly (~55g, and ~65g)! Chickens are never boring!