Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[cheeka]

brushed off the dish... the eggs belong to Lilac, the large green egg... the small cream belongs to bantam Silkie/RIR mix, Cressa and the small bluish egg is Frankie's. it's greener than it looks, but next to Lilacs's green... it brings out more blue. it's perfect!

 

[XxMingirlxX]

Beautiful Egg Cheeka,
I need your advice guys.
Okay so I found this egg in the nesting box, it is cream coloured (I know it doesn't look very cream on the photo) and quite large. Babs didn't lay today so it's a possibility it could be hers however hers are never usually that light, the one to the right (corrugated) is the lightest hers usually get because they are corrugated. But this one is perfect and is a similar size to my large white leghorns eggs. It's definitely not Zazzles as her egg was also in the nesting box and her egg colour is a consistent white.
So I'm a bit confused; it could be any one of the following,

1) Babs is just laying lighter than usual, it's possible she's three years old now and her eggs tend to have quirks but even when the shell is light there is usually another visible problem and apart from that there was no other brown egg in the nesting box. But she has never layed an egg this light before

2) It's Peggy's, her breed is supposed to lay white to cream bantams sized eggs however for a first egg this is quite large especially since she is a bantam. It may be that she has been laying for a while and I have just not noticed as I mistook her egg for one of babs weird ones (she does sometimes lay small eggs however these tend to be browner). However I have never got two brown/cream on the same day so it's quite odd that she has enough time to start laying eggs the size and yet never layed on the same day as Babs. Another thing is we haven't had any double yolkers which I tend to expect when they are pullets. There is also nowhere to hide eggs around the run. She also STILL doesn't look ready to lay, her wattles are small and pink even though she is supposed to be over 40 weeks now.

3) It's Selmas. She is supposed to be an araucana so I would be super disappointed is this was hers as I have always wanted blue or green eggs and she was sold to me saying that she was a blue or green egg layer. However while this is still a little bit of a stretch for a first egg size, she is quite a large bird unlike Peggy. However she also doesn't look ready to lay despite being a similar age to Peggy, her comb is a light pink.

I don't know, I'm off next week so I shall watch them to see if I can find any clues but for now I'll just have to wait for your feedback and if I get two brown/cream eggs in the same day.
Pic, left to right, Zazzles', unknown, Babs corrugated (this is the lightest they usually get).

 

[lularat]

brushed off the dish... the eggs belong to Lilac, the large green egg... the small cream belongs to bantam Silkie/RIR mix, Cressa and the small bluish egg is Frankie's. it's greener than it looks, but next to Lilacs's green... it brings out more blue. it's perfect!

Pretty eggs! Wow, that's a lot of snow you all are getting....stay safe.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

brushed off the dish... the eggs belong to Lilac, the large green egg... the small cream belongs to bantam Silkie/RIR mix, Cressa and the small bluish egg is Frankie's. it's greener than it looks, but next to Lilacs's green... it brings out more blue. it's perfect!

Did you have to go on the roof, with broken toes and being sick? Such dedication! The eggs are beautiful. Reminds me of shells and beach glass, which I love.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

I don't know, I'm off next week so I shall watch them to see if I can find any clues but for now I'll just have to wait for your feedback and if I get two brown/cream eggs in the same day.
Pic, left to right, Zazzles', unknown, Babs corrugated (this is the lightest they usually get).

My guess is Babs laid the middle egg. The Leghorn is ruled out and I think the Araucana as well, unless Selma is the result of several generations of crossbreeding and somehow lost the dominant gene for blue shells. (The blue color in Araucana eggs is the base color of the shell, not a coating. A brown coating over a bluish shells gives you green eggs. Brown coating over white shells results in cream to chocolate colors. Check the inside of the shell.) That leaves your Spitzhauben, which I had to look up to see what it was. They are very cute!, uncommon in the US, but all the info here says they lay large white eggs. Maybe the European breed differs or Oeggy got some brown tint crossed into her line, so you can't rule her out completely. I've had a couple of pullets start out laying large eggs first thing.

But I still think it's Babs. Maybe she just had an off day from laying wrinkly eggs and, not surprisingly, missed a layer or two of brown pigment at the same time. Maybe that egg zipped through her production line faster than normal or something. It looks to be the same size and shape as the other, which is a big clue, as mine are more consistent with the shape than the shade.

Let us know what find out. Someone posted a link on how to determine if a pullet/hen is currently laying by looking at their vent. I think it was on here, and if I find it, I'll post so you can see if Oeggy and Selma are even laying yet.



Found it! I learned a lot from this. Scroll down for the pics.
http://vomitingchicken.com/solve-the-mystery-which-hens-are-laying/

 

[XxMingirlxX]

My guess is Babs laid the middle egg.  The Leghorn is ruled out and I think the Araucana as well, unless Selma is the result of several generations of crossbreeding and somehow lost the dominant gene for blue shells.  (The blue color in Araucana eggs is the base color of the shell, not a coating.  A brown coating over a bluish shells gives you green eggs.  Brown coating over white shells results in cream to chocolate colors.  Check the inside of the shell.)  That leaves your Spitzhauben, which I had to look up to see what it was.  They are very cute!, uncommon in the US, but all the info here says they lay large white eggs.  Maybe the European breed differs or Oeggy got some brown tint crossed into her line, so you can't rule her out completely.  I've had a couple of pullets start out laying large eggs first thing.  

But I still think it's Babs.  Maybe she just had an off day from laying wrinkly eggs and, not surprisingly, missed a layer or two of brown pigment at the same time.  Maybe that egg zipped through her production line faster than normal or something.  It looks to be the same size and shape as the other, which is a big clue, as mine are more consistent with the shape than the shade. 

Let us know what find out.  Someone posted a link on how to determine if a pullet/hen is currently laying by looking at their vent.  I think it was on here, and if I find it, I'll post so you can see if Oeggy and Selma are even laying yet. 

Thanks, I just realised that I have put Oeggy in my signature instead of Peggy, oops, hey maybe I can maybe call the next one Oeggy
Looks like on the website it says colour can varie but majority are white or very light cream, huh, must of misread that before lol. Yeah she is a real cutie, a pic from and few days ago of her and Selma (Peggy in the background) - you can see how pale they both are in the comb and wattle department, this makes me doubtful it is peggy, especially after rereading the website lol.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

I thought Oeggy was a cute name!

I just edited and posted that link. It's really good.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

http://vomitingchicken.com/solve-the-mystery-which-hens-are-laying/

 

[XxMingirlxX]

I thought Oeggy was a cute name!   

I just edited and posted that link.  It's really good.

Ty, hey, it's always an excuse to get more chickens I think though, after all the trouble I have had with this lot, I will raise them from chicks.
Edit- I have just read it, very interesting, as soon as it said, dirty vent feathers I was was thinking, yup that's babs and Zazzles in a nutshell. The only problem is, I need to catch her before I can check and let me tell you that is not an easy task, I'll give it a go in a few days. I remember that before Zazzles started laying and mellowing out, even though I raised from a chick she would run faster than roadrunner away from me, now all I have to do is step in the run and she is at my feet saying hello. (Treats definitely help with this)

 

[mortie]

Up here in the tundra
things are still quite frozen
So we gave mom a break
and laid half a dozen!

drumroll please...........
....................................
..................................

SIX! Today we laid six