I just don't get it.....

[cjeanean]

I've been wondering about this....so I use one nest box per 3 or 4 chickens, how do I tell which chickens lay on one particular day??? Or is this not important??? I hear a lot about keeping detailed laying records, but is that just for the flock in general or individual chickens??? If I've got 20 chickens and they all use the same nest box, how will I know who didn't lay if I only get 19 eggs??? (if this is completely unimportant info feel free to

LOL!)

 

[chickmomma30]

ok from my experience hens only lay once a day. so if you have 20 hens and nineteen eggs then only one did not lay. The only way i have known who was laying is when i had enought boxes for each chicken to have one. they ended up laying in the bx that thought was the best so they all picked a box and that one chick layed in that box.

 

[chickflick]

In my opinion. Unless you are breeding, I guess. If you just have a backyard flock for your enjoyment, I don't think it's that important. Unless you catch them in the act, you won't know. But, I have caught some of mine in the act and have learned what their eggs look like and now can identify those eggs and what girl laid them. Of course, when you have new chickens, you want to know when and who is laying. It's fun trying to catch them in the act.

 

[Flufnstuffs~FluffySilkies]

Hello,
I only keep detailed Records because I show my Silkies and I breed for consistancy or improvments in Quality acording to my personal preferences,
Keeping the Standard of Perfection in Mind.

I seperate my birds if I want only certain birds eggs at any one given time,
I also have real good luck with knowing who laid what egg in each pen as I don'nt think every egg looks the same and I can tell with a lot of the eggs just by looking at them what hen laid it.

In your situation I would not worry about it.

 

[wynedot55]

the only way to see who is laying everysday is to have a nest trapp.if a hen goes in a nest to lay.it traps her till you let her out.

 

[pattycake]

I can never tell exactly, but I've found that the different hens lay different size/color eggs. The big brown ones always show up after a RIR was in the nest, and the long thin dark ones after the Jersey Giants, usually in the afternoons.

Once you have more than few chickens, though, it's almost impossible to keep really specific notes on who does what...

 

[Wolf-Kim]

It really isn't too important, unless you are truly only wanting to keep and feed those that are laying.

The best way to keep records of day to day egg laying would be through the use of trap nests. It is a nest box with a specially designed front that keeps the hen inside the box until you release her. These can be a little bit more costly and time consuming, because you have to either buy or make the trap-nests and you have to make sure to do multiple trips out to the coop to make sure the hens aren't locked up all day. There would have to be enough for every hen(or all but one), because once a hen goes inside the door comes down and it makes the next hen have find another box.

If you just have a flock for eggs and pets, it is not important to know which ones aren't laying eggs. But if you want to save on feed, by caring only for those that are 'pulling their weight', then you will have to either separate every hen or use the trap nests. Egg-laying records are also important if you are trying to breed high quality show birds, and want to be very very picky about keeping track of which hen laid what egg.

-Kim

 

[Mrs MIA]

We purchased a surveillance camera - Swann NightHawk IR. I mounted it in a spot across from the nests, and I can actually watch it on the big screen TV. That way you don't have to keep going into the coop to see if anyone's laying. Just keep an eye on them, and as soon as someone leaves the nest, go out and grab their egg.

I love modern technology!
But, I'm thinking of trapnests for a few of my breeding pens, just so I can be sure of whose egg I'm collecting for breeding purposes.

 

[Red]

We only have three adult hens, so it's pretty easy to tell which hen laid which egg....with 20 hens i'm thinking this is bordering on the impossible though