How to tell which hens are laying?

[brookewarner]

I have 7 hens. I am getting 2-4 eggs per day, some white, some brown. I want to know which egg comes from which hen to know which are laying how many eggs. Three of my hens are in their 3rd year, and I don't know if they have slowed down, and two of them I suspect haven't even started laying, even though they are 25 weeks old (is that abnormally late?)

 

[SussexInSeattle]

My Gold Sex Link didn't begin to lay until the ripe old age of 7 months BUT she has never had a moult and will be 2 years in May so I can't figure that one out. So I would have to say 25 weeks is still within 'normal'.

Naming your breeds will help to get a clearer picture of who is doing what in your coop. Your location may also help to answer the laying question. Also you probably have heard that you can usually tell the color of eggs laid by the hens' earlobe colors right?

 

[tammyd57]

The two that you suspect have not started laying? Are their combs and wattles dark red or still pinkish? They start getting redder when they are mature enough to lay. You can also check their pelvic bone spacing. Just under their vent, you can feel the bones on each side, the hens that are laying will have more space between those bones. The younger hens that are not laying yet will be fairly narrow between those bones.
Breeds will help us determine who is laying white or brown eggs.
Hope this helps a bit.

 

[feathersnuggles]

Squatting, too, indicates a layer or one that is about to lay. You reach for them, and they drop & squat briefly.

 

[brookewarner]

Thanks for the help. Here is a picture of the two 6-month-olds who don't seem to lay eggs yet. Does anyone know their breeds and what color eggs they are supposed to lay? Is the earlobe the bluish-white spot below and behind the eye on the side of the smaller one's head?

 

[Balboaroc]

The one in the back is a Barred Rock, the front one I don't know. The front one though has a very pale comb so I would assume pretty safely it is not laying yet. The Barred Rock I'm not sure about.

 

[NellaBean]

Front looks like a silver spangled hamburg....who is not yet laying. Back girl looks like she should be laying soon if not already.

 

[lindamass15]

The silver spangled hamburg will lay a little white egg, but I dont think her breed will go broody.

 

[SussexInSeattle]

My Barred Plymouth Rock layed a medium sized brown egg. The spotted one does look just like a Silver Spangled Hamburg (white egg) and she looks a little younger than the Barred Rock but if you got them both as chicks then she will just stay a very smaller hen. It seems that my smaller breeds layed eggs way more often than my real big girls did.

By the way, what part of the world are you living in?

 

[brookewarner]

I'm in Los Angeles.

These two have started giving me trouble by not going back into the coop at night with the other chickens so I can shut them in against predators. Instead they fly up into a tree now, which makes it difficult. I even tried shutting them in the coop for three days straight (not letting them roam) to re-establish their "home" but once I let them out, they just started roosting in the tree again! Is there a way to break this habit?