Matching eggs to the right hen, and potential egg bound issue?

[Skylark47]

Hello chicken friends! I'd love to get some opinions on matching the eggs I'm getting from my hens with which hen is laying them. My research seems to think all my breeds lay some kind of brown egg, but we get green eggs most days as well and I'm not sure which hen it's from! My three hens as far as I know are: a Black Copper Marans (Matilda age 6), a Speckled Sussex (Helene age 6), and a Speckled Marans (Lettie age 4). I inherited them last summer so it's my best guess.

They've been laying again for a month or two post winter. We get one or two eggs most days, so two of them are laying regularly, and every once in a while we get a third egg, so one of them isn't laying a lot yet. The eggs are usually a medium-dark brown speckled egg and a light green egg. The rare one is white or light brown (we've had both colors). I'm pretty sure the dark brown speckled egg is from Matilda the Marans and I had thought the green was the Helene the Sussex, based on who has been in and out of the nest box that I've seen, but my internet research seems to think these breeds would all lay some kind of brown egg, so which one is laying the green? Or do I have the breeds wrong? I'm not totally sure on Lettie as a Speckled Marans, she could also be a mixed breed. She doesn't have feathery feet the way Matilda does.

I also noticed the last few days my Sussex has been exhibiting some behavior that when sitting during the day she moves her rear up and down a bit, rhythmically, as if she is going to lay or poop, and she's been having pretty runny poops the last few weeks. Could this be a sign of some egg bound issues? I had thought she was laying the green, but after looking up egg color today now I'm wondering if she is laying the rare white/light brown eggs and having some issues. Sometimes those eggs are a little pointier as well. She is otherwise acting normal and has a normal appetite and runs around with the others.

Any thoughts on who's egg is who's would be great! And any advice on the behavior Helene has been having.
Thank you!

 

[azygous]

It appears you may have a couple of mixed breeds. I suspect the chicken in the center of row two has some Legbar genes, so follow that one into the nest next time and see if that green egg might be hers.

I am going to guess the light tan egg is from the Speckled Sussex on the bottom row, far right.

Behavior is the best indication of egg binding. If you see a hen standing still with her tail held low and flat, looking uncertain and like she feels awful, that might be a hen with a stuck egg.

Runny poop can be perfectly healthy if that hen has eaten something with high water content or has drunk a lot of water. Some hens have runny poop their entire lives because they happen to enjoy drinking a lot of water. Poop is simply one symptom among many that a chicken may have something going on. Behavior is a better indication. It's hard to mistake a chicken that doesn't feel well. They won't be doing anything, they won't be joining the activities of the rest of the flock.

 

[Skylark47]

It appears you may have a couple of mixed breeds. I suspect the chicken in the center of row two has some Legbar genes, so follow that one into the nest next time and see if that green egg might be hers.

I am going to guess the light tan egg is from the Speckled Sussex on the bottom row, far right.

Behavior is the best indication of egg binding. If you see a hen standing still with her tail held low and flat, looking uncertain and like she feels awful, that might be a hen with a stuck egg.

Runny poop can be perfectly healthy if that hen has eaten something with high water content or has drunk a lot of water. Some hens have runny poop their entire lives because they happen to enjoy drinking a lot of water. Poop is simply one symptom among many that a chicken may have something going on. Behavior is a better indication. It's hard to mistake a chicken that doesn't feel well. They won't be doing anything, they won't be joining the activities of the rest of the flock.

Thank you! I'll keep watching her behavior this week and see if she has any other signs. I haven't noticed the low flat tale behavior, just the up and down movement while sitting, so I'll keep observing. Good to know about the poop! It's definitely been more irregular since they've been roaming the yard as it's gotten nice out. Hopefully she's just hydrated.

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

**edit Apologies. I didn't read the post date and thought this was just posted, but didn't realize it's over a month old

Agreed that the eggs belong to...

Brown Speckled = Black Copper Marans (Matilda)

Tinted/cream (tan, brown, whatever you feel like calling it) = Speckled Sussex (Helene)
She may not be consistently adding a "brown coat" to the eggs, so they may look pale or white sometimes? (White shell + brown coat = brown egg.)

Green = Legbar cross. (Lettie)
Previous home probably purchased her as an "olive egger". Legbars have the crest on the head, and blue egg gene. Crossing a brown egg producer and a blue egg producer creates "green" eggs (blue eggshell + brown coat = green egg)
She's not speckled, she's "Cuckoo" (Cuckoo is the Barred gene. Examples- Crested Cream Legbar, Barred Plymouth Rock, Cuckoo Marans.)

I included pictures of my pullets.

2 Mottled Ancona (speckled sussex is a "mottled" gene, but she has red in addition to black and white)

1 Barred Plymouth Rock & 1 Crested Cream Legbar (both are barred. Barred Rock has distinctive black and white stripes. Crested Cream Legbar has crest on head)

1 Golden Cuckoo Marans (Cuckoo is a Barred gene, but you can see she is dark without very distinct stripes, especially on her back)