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Yeah, what Ruth said! I would suppose if you knew where they were coming from that might be ok. But maybe folks are talking about picking up eggs from say a breeding PEN, as opposed to a one on one breeding set up? Just a thought. Your point does make sense though Ruth
Most of those posting know which hens lay which eggs and in fact, comment that the same hens lays all the different shades but they only set the darkest ones. I guess that's the part I'm not sure makes any sense to me. If the mama lays every shade under the rainbow it's still the same chick and from what I would "assume" said chick would also lay every color under the rainbow and would not have any more propensity to only lay dark just because it came out of a dark egg.
On the other hand, if someone doesn't know which hen lays light eggs, they should. Separate each hen in a separate pen/kennel until it lays an egg, or two or three. Once you know she lays consistently dark eggs, keep her in the breeding program. If she only lays light eggs, kick her out.
In my experience, I'm not seeing a wide range of shades from the same hen. I have some that consistently lay very dark eggs. I know which ones are their eggs from a distance. By separating and then banding them, I know which hens are my darkest layers. So, if I were going to only set certain eggs, I would only set THEIR eggs, which are always dark eggs. Which, by the way, is another "project" I will undertake come Spring. I do have a couple that lay the very dark and sherical eggs so I guess I could start hatching just those eggs.
Yeah, what Ruth said! I would suppose if you knew where they were coming from that might be ok. But maybe folks are talking about picking up eggs from say a breeding PEN, as opposed to a one on one breeding set up? Just a thought. Your point does make sense though Ruth

Most of those posting know which hens lay which eggs and in fact, comment that the same hens lays all the different shades but they only set the darkest ones. I guess that's the part I'm not sure makes any sense to me. If the mama lays every shade under the rainbow it's still the same chick and from what I would "assume" said chick would also lay every color under the rainbow and would not have any more propensity to only lay dark just because it came out of a dark egg.
On the other hand, if someone doesn't know which hen lays light eggs, they should. Separate each hen in a separate pen/kennel until it lays an egg, or two or three. Once you know she lays consistently dark eggs, keep her in the breeding program. If she only lays light eggs, kick her out.
In my experience, I'm not seeing a wide range of shades from the same hen. I have some that consistently lay very dark eggs. I know which ones are their eggs from a distance. By separating and then banding them, I know which hens are my darkest layers. So, if I were going to only set certain eggs, I would only set THEIR eggs, which are always dark eggs. Which, by the way, is another "project" I will undertake come Spring. I do have a couple that lay the very dark and sherical eggs so I guess I could start hatching just those eggs.