Same hen or new layer

[sawilliams]

.

I know age old question who layed the egg.

Mildred is a rir or producting red was/is due to lay today but the brown egg I got doesn't fit her norm. The egg pictured on the left is slightly larger, has no speckles and was laid in box 2 instead of mildred's preferance box 1, no one else layed at that time for her to have chosen a different box and she is currently head hen and gets her box anyways. Mildred's egg from 2 days ago is on the right. They are very close in color but the overall look is throwing me off. The only other one I'm waiting on is black betty she's a black astrolorp. My other 2 layers have nice light tan almost pink eggs and I have caught them both in the process of laying. I have 2 others that are only about 12 weeks and to young to lay.

I'm currently watching just in case this egg isn't mildred's as she is laying 2 eggs with 1 day off right now and she took yesterday off.

But what do you think? Is the egg on the left similar enough to be mildred's or different enough to be betty's

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My guess based on the shape of them is they are from the same hen, been a few years since I had a laying Australorp but I don't think their eggs are that dark and pigmented.

 

[sawilliams]

I understand that I'm having a hard time finding info on what a normal color range is for a ba but I also know there is a good chance she is a mix breed that just looks ba. As all the others I got with her are mixed. It doesn't look like I'm getting another today so I'll just assume it's mildred's.

 

[aart]

Shades of brown can change in an individual hen from day to day, as can size...shape usually remains very similar.
Some birds lay so many eggs per week regularly.....or it can change week to week.
Winter laying can be even more sporadic due to the low light.

One thing consistent with chickens?......is the inconsistency, hahaha!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Yep, shade can change, but shape rarely does. They look to be from the same bird.

 

[aart]

Yep, shade can change, but shape rarely does. They look to be from the same bird.

I was thinking shape is a bit different...but might be the slightly different size and shade that's throwing that off.
After 2 years, I've about given up on telling certain layers apart.

 

[sawilliams]

Thank you, I only have 6, subdivision county law. 1 was laying when we got her. 3 were close to laying and 2 more that were about 5-7 weeks at the time. We were fortune to catch the 2 when they started, and ate only waiting on one more but as I said she at least looks ba and from what I can find they tend to start later then most others. The youngest 2 should be ready end of January to start laying. So I'm hoping by the end of February I'll have all 6 laying. It was nice though I'm use too at least 1 off day a week but this week I had 1-3 every day

 

[Peeps61]

It's hard to say - if they are new layers, it could be the same bird. But, it could also be one of the others beginning to lay! Sometimes, the first eggs are oddly shaped.

 

[sawilliams]

Another odd egg

The one on the left actually had a pink almost red hue color to it. The one on the right is mildred's normal color. Mildred has been down to 1 egg every 2 days the past week. And she layed yesterday. I didn't catch any one in the nest today becuase they all layed while I was at the store.

I was actually checking the eggs becuase I was thinking one of the tans was a little dark for thier normal but when I compared it to the others it was perfect. But this one isn't sort of different it looks a lot different to me. I caught my egg before I even started looking at the one I wanted to check. But maybe that's why the tan looked off to me, becuase this one is lighter then the Browns I expect to see. Eitherway in either going to have to catch betty in the nest or have 4 eggs in 1 day to know for sure.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They do look like from different hens