No one told me...

[michaelbell317]

How do you know which hen is laying eggs? Do you have them in separate cages? I have a small backyard flock of 10 birds, which are not yet laying, but when they do I don't know how I could tell which bird gave an egg for that day, or not.

One of us, the wife and I, are out in the backyard almost constantly for one. Plus, our chickens are not super quiet when it’s their time to lay. So far it’s been pretty easy to tell, but I won’t be surprised when the day comes that we’re not sure who laid what.

 

[ironsightfarm]

Just curious, how old are your birds? I am still looking forward to my first egg and think/hope it will not be very long.

I have two laying right now, my NH and my Buff Orp - both are 19 weeks. The other ladies in my flock are all different breeds, and some are only 17 weeks, so I think I got hit with beginner's luck

 

[moniquem]

Yes, I have a spreadsheet complete with a graph, tracking my producers.

OMG me too! It really did help when one of my girls started having problems, she got egg bound. I could see that she took about a month to fully recover during that time, with no eggs. But the other 2 chickens lay about 4/5 eggs per week! And I know this by my little egg graph!

 

[ironsightfarm]

One of us, the wife and I, are out in the backyard almost constantly for one. Plus, our chickens are not super quiet when it’s their time to lay. So far it’s been pretty easy to tell, but I won’t be surprised when the day comes that we’re not sure who laid what.

This is how I knew as well...BIG commotion in the coop when an egg's been laid! Thanks for reply!

 

[gtaus]

I have two laying right now, my NH and my Buff Orp - both are 19 weeks. The other ladies in my flock are all different breeds, and some are only 17 weeks, so I think I got hit with beginner's luck

My girls are 16 weeks old. No eggs yet. I am wondering if I should put in the nest boxes now with some fake eggs, or wait until I actually find an egg in the coop or run? My nest boxes are removable, and I have not put them in the coop yet as I don't want the girls sleeping in them. Also, I have 10 birds all of different breeds, so I expect some will start laying before others. Any advice appreciated.

 

[moniquem]

How do you know which hen is laying eggs? Do you have them in separate cages? I have a small backyard flock of 10 birds, which are not yet laying, but when they do I don't know how I could tell which bird gave an egg for that day, or not.

well my EE lays a green egg
BA lays a large tan egg, kind of elongated
SS lays a pinkish/tan round egg

And I can tell if someone is in the nest because the others start having a cow as they all MUST share the same nest.

 

[ironsightfarm]

My girls are 16 weeks old. No eggs yet. I am wondering if I should put in the nest boxes now with some fake eggs, or wait until I actually find an egg in the coop or run? My nest boxes are removable, and I have not put them in the coop yet as I don't want the girls sleeping in them. Also, I have 10 birds all of different breeds, so I expect some will start laying before others. Any advice appreciated.

I'm sure others have approached this differently, but I put my nest boxes out in the coop around 18 weeks (mine are made out of large totes with straw) so the girls could start checking them out. I know the girls were going in them because there would be shavings in the boxes and straw in the coop, but as far as I know no one has used them to sleep or hang out in because I haven't had to clean them out yet. I found my 1st egg behind the nest boxes, but any others have been laid inside them!

 

[michaelbell317]

I have two laying right now, my NH and my Buff Orp - both are 19 weeks. The other ladies in my flock are all different breeds, and some are only 17 weeks, so I think I got hit with beginner's luck

I’m not exactly sure how old our chickens are. We brought them all home on the same day 5 months ago, but we could tell as they grew that there was as much as two weeks, maybe even more between some of them.

 

[michaelbell317]

I'm sure others have approached this differently, but I put my nest boxes out in the coop around 18 weeks (mine are made out of large totes with straw) so the girls could start checking them out. I know the girls were going in them because there would be shavings in the boxes and straw in the coop, but as far as I know no one has used them to sleep or hang out in because I haven't had to clean them out yet. I found my 1st egg behind the nest boxes, but any others have been laid inside them!

Their nesting boxes are inside the coop. The box’s access was blocked off until they got closer to laying age. Even after I opened the boxes up, they didn’t go inside them until they started laying. A couple of weeks after I opened them, we put one decoy egg in each box. It’s funny now. If I remove the decoy from the preferred box and put it into one of the other boxes, I have three, they’ll use the other box. They prefer the center box, but they more prefer a box with a decoy egg.

 

[WallyBirdie]

Congrats on the egg. There's more to come!