Two hens, one egg

[EggNV]

Hi all!

I'm new to the forum, as well as being new to having chickens. We adopted two, two-year old girls from a local family recently and I'm curious as to whether we're experiencing normal laying behavior. We got them about a week ago. Prior to that they (along with their 10 ft x 3 ft coop, and 4ft x 2.5 ft hen house) were with a couple who had taken them in from their niece who had recently moved and didn't have the yard space for them any longer. The couple would have kept the chickens, but their 10 month old puppy just wouldn't leave them alone so they felt re-homing them was the best option. Yay for us!

That said, we're getting one egg a day from two hens. Apparently that was what was happening for the month they were with the couple who had them before us (I just asked today to confirm). Am I right in assuming that one of them is likely not laying? Perhaps won't? Any ideas or thoughts would be welcome!

Thank you so much.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC. It could be that they are taking it in turns, or just one is laying. What breed are they? If you can take a peek at the nest box every 30 minutes or so (in the morning times) then you will see who is laying and who is not. Even if you can only do this at the weekend, that gives you two days to see if its the same hen or not. Once you become familiar with examining eggs, you may also be able to tell by slight differences in shade of egg colour, size and shape.

Some people apply food dye around the vents of chickens, but it seems from what i have read success with that method can vary.

 

[EggNV]

Thanks so much for the reply and the welcome!

The girls are RIR standards. It was funny because I had let them out of their coop early one morning to roam the yard and it must've been too early because when I put them back inside one of them rushed up the ladder as if to say, "omg! Gotta lay! Gotta lay!" I'd already checked the box that morning and no egg, sure enough when I let them out for their afternoon roam there was an egg. I just wish I'd paid more attention to which one was making a bee-line for the nest box that day!

Is it common to have a non-producing young hen?

 

[Pork Pie]

Not in my experience, and I would have thought that RIRs should still be laying at 2 years. It could be that one of them is still feeling a little stressed at the move and thus she's on strike. Without watching who is laying, its impossible to say.

 

[jolly wattles]

We recently added 2 hens to our flock. One has laid everyday since. The other laid the first day then immediately went into molt and hasn't laid since. That's been a month. So moving stress can play a huge role.

 

[ChickenMammX4]

The stress of moving may have effected one more than the other.

 

[Abriana]

one could be laying one day, and another the next, and so on. When my flock consisted of ten chickens (nine hens and a rooster), my Dutch Bantam was the same age, even older, than some of the other hens and she did not lay until about two weeks after the others began, and some started even later. it depends on the chicken. You can nest trap them to find out as well. When a hen goes into the nesting box to lay, she springs the door and cannot get out until you release her. be sure to check often to make sure one isn't trapped in there all day without food or water. Stress can also play a part in egg laying

 

[dawnd13]

I have 2 two year old chickens. One cochin and one wyondette. Sometimes I get one egg, sometimes two and then again sometimes none. I can tell the difference because the wyondette eggs are paler. Today, I just had one of my new girls lay her first egg and I have no idea out of the six who it was. I just got home and found it. Yea!