UGGGHHH! How do I know who laid an egg??

BigDaddy'sGurl

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Sorry no pic, digital camera down...here's the scoop: had a coop of chickens that weren't laying...don't know if it was stress, the heat, what. Only one hen in this coop would lay at all and it's only a few times a week. Yesterday I decided to make some improvements to the coop in the hopes of encouraging laying; I put in a newer nesting box lined with corn husks and shavings, I added special foods, etc. I also removed a "boss hen" who was being aggressive and keeping everyone on the run. That left one rooster and two hens in the coop. One of the hens is a mixed game pullet, and the other is my husband's pride and joy: a dark andalusian named Beatrix. Beatrix escaped when we first got her and was loose and staying away for literally a month before we got her back so now that she is back my husband is beyond thrilled and desperate for us to incubate her eggs, if she ever lays. The mean hen we removed was the only layer of the bunch so you can imagine my surprise when I looked in the new nest box today and found....an egg! Here's the problem: we really want the andalusian to lay. The egg is slightly off white and kind of a smallish medium but very well shaped and has some slight mottling to it. How do we know who's it is??? The pullet seems kind of small to me to have laid even an egg that is a medium, but how to know? Our other game hen lays pure white eggs soooo...any help would be great! I'm not holding my breath that whoever laid it will do so again anytime soon, so I'm desperate to find out...
 
Incubate it and see what comes out of it...
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LOL

thanks for the reply...I considered this myself, lol...I will be putting it in the bator regardless, just don't know if I can wait the whole 3 weeks, lol. Tried having a discussion with the two ladies in question, but I don't speak clucky and they evidently think I speak swahili, so no luck there, lol.
 
Here's a nitty-gritty way to tell if a hen or pullet is laying.
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Try to feel for two "pin bones" (two pointy bones on either side of her vent). If you can fit 2-3 fingers between them, she has layed recently. If you can only fit 1+/-, she hasn't laid for a minimum of six days.

I recently learned this from a fellow BYCer, and it's worked 100% for me.
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Thanks for the info cowgirl! I'll have to try that but here's a ?: these hens are not quite "tame" and any interaction I've ever had with my not so tame birds has resulted in a laying strike...do you think my pestering them will cause this to happen again?
 

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