I swear now they are just messing with my head for fun!

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Okay... I have four hens laying in the big girl coop. One is an EE, so I figure the green egg has to be hers. The other three are a buff orp, a SLW and a GLW. I assumed that the wyandottes would lay the same color egg and the buff egg would look different. I also assumed that the wyandotte eggs are darker than the buff eggs. Both of these statements can't be true though given the eggs I found today. I swear the egg colors are changing daily.
Initially I thought that the SLW was laying brown with brown speckles, the GLW was laying brown with white speckles and the buff was laying a light brown. Today I got two light browns and one darker brown. The light browns both have white speckles. I don't think anybody else is laying yet. Nobody has shown signs of being ready (although they are all around 32 weeks and are more than old enough).

Can the shade of the egg change from day to day? The speckles look like something applied to the outside of the egg. They are not inherent to the shell. They almost look like they would rub off if you scratched hard enough. The speckles have been coming and going for a while.

What think you? Would the shading change daily? Are wyandotte eggs darker than buff orp eggs? Are my chickens just trying to mess with my head in their quest for world domination?

Ackk!!!

 

[debilorrah]

If you are getting green eggs then no one but the ee is laying those. There are times when my BO's eggs have speckles, but not all the time. I don't have any wyandottes, but my BO's egg is a very light pinkish brown.......

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Yeah, the green egg is the only one where I can definitely identify the layer. It's the others I can't figure out. I assumed the buff would lay a light pinkish brown egg. The darker should be the wyandottes. But I got two lights and a dark today and I only have one buff laying.

They do this just to annoy and confuse me. I'm sure of it.
Hateful little chickens...

 

[Southernbelle]

I'm going with the "messing with your head" theory

Ungrateful little wretches!

I can't wait to see what the Welsummer eggs look like!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Yes, they are hateful little brats! First they refuse to lay and then when they do lay they mix up the colors and nest boxes so I don't know who laid what! This is going to get tricky if and when I decide to start hatching things out. (This set under Fifi the silkie is my test run to see how well I guessed!)

They make me crazy!

 

[Southernbelle]

I suggest you take some time off of your job and set up a blind (like a deer blind) with a good view of the nesting boxes (some binoculars might help) and watch them over a period of several days to see who goes in what nest box. After they leave, you immediately run over and snatch the egg. Take detailed notes - all will be lost without adequate note taking. Repeat entire process every time the egg changes in color, size or tint.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Ahhhh, you laugh. We are on Christmas break until January. I may just do that.

The problem is that I have more or less done that. I've been spying on them for a month and then logging the details into a spreadsheet. I have down who laid what, where it was laid and what color it was. The problem is that they are not constant! They all pretty much use two of the four nest boxes, but you just never know who will lay where. Brats. They hate me.

(One little ray of sunshine for you- Pooh the EE started laying today! There was the sweetest little minty green egg in the banty coop today!)

 

[Southernbelle]

Anne, you're too much!


Okay, next I suggest that you take each egg, blow it out and mount it in the kitchen with the hens' name under it. Then when you get a mystery egg, you'll have a whole line of eggs to compare it to! Of course, you may have to have multiple entries for each chicken whenever their eggs change even slightly. Hope you like scrambled eggs!!!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I don't think my kitchen is big enough for that. I'd be blowing out every egg coming in the door! Plus, since I've been feeding raw eggs to the dogs (including the shells) I'm not sure that the eggs would last very long. The wonder mutts would destroy the kitchen art!

 

[crazychicken]

i have a hen that has never once laid a egg with out speckles.

and they hatch chicks fine and they taste great too.