Which chicken is laying which eggs?

[EggWalrus]

I actually laughed out loud at that last part. I think we are going shopping tomorrow so I’ll see if I can get some. If I do get some, should I start putting it on my youngest ones or the others. Also would the lipstick hurt them or effect them in any way. I’ve never heard of this before tonight and I just don’t want to hurt my chickens. They are like my babies

You can put that lip stick in your mouth and it won't hurt you. You can put a sliver in their vent and it won't hurt them either. But I wouldn't recommend put your lips on their vent, EVER!
They will be just fine.

 

[featherhead007]

You know? Some information just isn't important enough to go to a lipstick extreme like this! JMO

 

[NatJ]

You could just close a door and divide coops again, right? If you're just trying to figure out who lays a specific egg, you can do it with two coops.

Split the hens between the two coops (probably 10 in one and 9 in the other). Wait until you get another of those eggs. Now you've got it narrowed down to 10 hens, rather than one of 19. Make a note of which hens those are.

Split the hens that could have laid the egg into two groups, one in each coop. The ones that did NOT lay the egg can go in either coop to make the numbers right, as long as you made notes of which ones they were. Wait until you get another of those eggs.

Now you know which 5 hens it must be, so move 2 of them into the other group from where they just were.

When you know which two or three hens must contain the right one, you're almost done--just swap one hen to the other group, and see where the next egg is.

(Yes, some hens may get moved back and forth a few times.)

Keeping notes may be easier if you group them by breeds while doing this, at least at first. (Easier to write "not any orpington" than to list 4 by name.)

If you just care which breed, you may have your answer a little sooner than if you care which individual hen of the breed.

At 1-2 days between eggs, you might have your answer in a week, or perhaps a little more.

 

[Duckfarmer1]

That would be my preference...cheaper and you don’t have to put lipstick on their vents. As for them all using one nesting box..that was discussed in a thread not long ago..I thought my chickens were the only weird ones...apparently that’s very normal!!

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Thanks for the idea but I don’t think I’d be able to put lipstick on my chickens vents lol. When you say tell the color of egg they lay by their earlobes what exactly do you mean. Also I get about 10 eggs a day if that helps

Sure: If The chickens ear lobe is red, that means she's laying brown eggs. If the ear lobe is white, it often means she's laying white eggs. But, as I said before that might be harder than lip stick.

 

[NatJ]

Sure: If The chickens ear lobe is red, that means she's laying brown eggs. If the ear lobe is white, it often means she's laying white eggs. But, as I said before that might be harder than lip stick.

Every chicken on the OP's list "should" lay brown eggs, except the green/blue layers, so not helpful here.

Also:
https://www.mypetchicken.com/backya...or-of-a-hens-eggs-determined-by-the-H232.aspx

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can sometimes tell by the color of the chickens ear lobes but I know that might be hard in your situation.

That's not going to help. Other than the Ameraucana who should be laying blue eggs, every pullet or hen you have could lay a brown egg. There is no genetic link between ear lobe color and egg shell color. Just by luck most purebred brown egg layers have red ear lobes and most white egg layers have white ear lobes, but that is not consistent and it does not give any indication of shade of brown. If you have mixes like the EE, sex links, and golden buffs it means nothing.

Have you noticed the shade of brown changing? A pullet typically lays her darkest eggs just as she starts. Over time the shade of brown tends to lighten. Sometimes you can tell which hen or pullet laid which egg by size, shape, color, or shade, but that isn't always real reliable. On any given day the pullet or hen can have an "oops" where something is different. Still, I've been able to recognize certain eggs sometimes. Depends some on how many are laying.

Typically a pullet starts out laying a pretty small egg, especially if she starts laying at a very young age. It's natures way to protect a small immature pullet from possible damage to her internals by laying an over-sized egg compared to body size. Occasionally a pullet or hen will lay a huge egg, usually a double yolked egg, and almost always without problems, but the more larger eggs they lay the more risk. As the pullet matures the larger the eggs should get. You should have seen this with your others.

If a pullet or hen is laying her vent is going to be moist, soft, and relatively large. A small dry tight vent means she is not laying. It's usually really easy to see the difference once you look. That might help you narrow it down. And if you know which other hens are laying which eggs you can narrow it down further. Hopefully you only have a few to deal with.

I have never used either lipstick or food coloring to see which pullet or hen is laying which egg, just hasn't been that important to me. If I did I'd use food coloring, no way I'd want to explain to my wife why I was putting lipstick on a hen's vent. And I'd not put in in the vent the night before. If someone has done that and the night before worked please correct me, but chickens poop at night. I'd be concerned that they had cleaned the vent by egg laying time.

Good luck however you proceed, it should be a fun experiment. And please report back on your results, whatever they are.

 

[bpoore04]

Have you noticed the shade of brown changing? A pullet typically lays her darkest eggs just as she starts. Over time the shade of brown tends to lighten. Sometimes you can tell which hen or pullet laid which egg by size, shape, color, or shade, but that isn't always real reliable. On any given day the pullet or hen can have an "oops" where something is different. Still, I've been able to recognize certain eggs sometimes. Depends some on how many are laying.

The egg has been the same size and color since I first noticed it. It’s just about 2 times the size of a quail egg and light brown.