Tracking individual egg production in a flock

[Green Acres]

I'm a newbie, so I may be asking something that is common knowledge. How do you keep track of how many eggs an individual hen is laying? I want to breed and raise offspring from the best layers, but short of putting them in separate cages (mine are pastured and the thought of caging them breaks my heart) I don't have a clue. Not sure I want to put a video camera on the nesting boxes. Any other suggestions? Thank you.

 

[Pele]

Well, this isn't glamorous or sophisticated: but you could always put food coloring on thier vents. Different color for different girls The egg gets painted on the way out.

 

[Green Acres]

That is a clever idea. Just paint them early each morning and hope it doesn't dry out too quickly? Thank you - definitely worth a try.

 

[dcrow]

thought of this issue myself, tell us how well it works if u would

 

[Green Acres]

Thanks, I will. One of my goals for my hobby is to develop a largely self-sustaining flock, good layers yet hatching their own and getting a lot from their foraging. I don't want to maintain excess baggage or drag down the breeding stock.

 

[Pele]

It actually doesn't matter if it does dry out. The egg is wet when it comes out, so it's a self-maintaining system. It's diabolical

 

[jombolo]

I am able to track mine by egg color. i only have 3 hens but they all lay different color eggs. i've created an excel file in which i enter the date, the total eggs collected that day and i also have a column for each chicken that has laid an egg on that date. so i have a column for total eggs and a column per chicken. then i have a column for egg weight, for which at the bottom i have it calculating average weight overall.

 

[Green Acres]

Thank you. I will have three or four different egg colors when everyone starts laying, but I'll need to choose between half a dozen hens of each variety which ones will be allowed to remain as part of my future breeding flock. I envy your self-discipline in record keeping, but it is a great idea and would allow me to make future decisions based on data rather than personal bias.

 

[johnorem]

Search the forums for "the trap nesting thread". It might be something you would want to try. The thread is not real active but is very informative. Here is the url: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/567357/the-trap-nesting-thread

 

[Green Acres]

Interesting idea - one I'd never thought of. I especially like the drawings which someone with some technical know how could replicate. Just a thought - I wonder how long it takes before the hens figure it out and lay elsewhere! Thanks.