Is she laying eggs behind my back????

[minnehaha]

I have a 5 month old Cream Legbar pullet who I have heard sing the egg song in the past few weeks but have never seen an egg from her. This morning, for the first time I saw the Legbar Rooster breed with her. Do they usually start laying eggs before a rooster starts breeding them or after the rooster starts breeding them?

My chickens have a fenced in 2 acre range, so if she is laying, I need to go on a serious Easter egg hunt, because all the usual places I find eggs are eggs from my known layers. One lays in a shed, one goes inside another coop I have and lays her egg, the ducks lay eggs behind the rabbit cages, and the rest go in the hen house and use the nesting boxes.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

You can examine her (vent, bone structure, etc) to determine if she is currently laying or not - https://extension.usu.edu/davis/files/uploads/Chicken_Fact_Sheet-_Laying_Hens.pdf -- I can't find the better one I had marked previously, it has even better illustrations of things (ie the vent difference between laying/not laying)

 

[minnehaha]

You can examine her (vent, bone structure, etc) to determine if she is currently laying or not - https://extension.usu.edu/davis/files/uploads/Chicken_Fact_Sheet-_Laying_Hens.pdf -- I can't find the better one I had marked previously, it has even better illustrations of things (ie the vent difference between laying/not laying)

That is a great article, thank you. I had been checking the pelvis all wrong, I'll redo it tomorrow to see how wide they are, among other things. I would think she is laying since the rooster is breeding her. He isn't a rogue rooster, he is quite the gentleman. I just have not seen an egg from her. I might keep all my layers in the run tomorrow which gives my pullet no choice but to go inside the hen house to lay her egg tomorrow, yet she won't be stressed out because she will have company.

I am dying to see what shade of blue her eggs will be. My other Cream Legbars all have their own unique shade of blue, I know all of my hens unique eggs. This will change when the other 26 pullets all start laying. I am sure I won't know anymore. But I'll always know my Cream legbars.