Who’s laying what?!

[MrsCluckadoodledo]

I have what were sold to me as 3 EE, 3 BO, 2SS and 2 SLW.

I know the far left two top row are from one of the EE. The second row left was where another EE was. Stumped on the others tho.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I have what were sold to me as 3 EE, 3 BO, 2SS and 2 SLW.

I know the far left two top row are from one of the EE. The second row left was where another EE was. Stumped on the others tho.

Often when pics are posted, left becomes right, and top becomes bottom.

Are you certain that 2 of those are EE? EEs generally lay blue, green, or even pink, although some may lay brown (didn’t get the blue egg gene.)

Anyway, of the five eggs that I see on my screen, the pinkish-brown ones look a lot like those from my BO.

If you’re home Saturday, maybe you can hang out near the coop (weeding of whatever) and keep an eye on who goes in the coop for a while, checking for eggs whenever none are in there.

Here are eggs from my three, EE at top left touching my thumb, BO on top right, and Barred Rock on bottom. Your EE and BO could look different, though!

 

[BoundlessLove]

Please post pics of you chickens.

 

[BGcoop]

I agree your description of the rows is kind of confusing with the layout of the picture.
I have found my wyandottes have always laid a slightly lighter shade of brown than my other breeds. Not quite pink but leaning that direction. So your light ones could be from them. Also are they all laying yet? If they are just starting to lay you can do the pelvic bone check to see who is laying and who is not.

 

[WingItRanch]

I agree that pictures of your pullets should help determine who is laying. The ones laying are typically bright red. Easter Eggers are harder to tell because they usually have pea combs but the combs will swell and turn red when they're POL.

 

[MrsCluckadoodledo]

Left two are the ones I know are laying. Far left hen layed the top two on the far right row ( full row ) and middle hen laid the one with only single egg in row

 

[Ridgerunner]

EE's are not a breed. If you ask different people for an EE definition you get different definitions. There are no breed standards. EE's can have any type of comb, any color or pattern of feathers, any leg or skin color, any eye color, be any size, and lay any color of egg.

BO's, SS, and SLW have breed standards. According to their SOP they are supposed to lay a specific color/shade of egg. But unless the person that is selecting which chickens get to mate pays special attention to eggshell color, you can get a wide range of shades of their eggs. It is not a reliable method.

One method to determine which hen is laying which egg is to use food dye. Put one color of food dye inside a hen's vent, maybe the night before when taking her off of the roost. Drip a few drops or maybe use a Q-tip. Keep track of which color for which hen. The next day look for colored streaks on the eggs. I've heard of using lipstick for that but I'm not going to explain to my wife why I'm putting lipstick on a hen's vent.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Left two are the ones I know are laying. Far left hen layed the top two on the far right row ( full row ) and middle hen laid the one with only single egg in row

EEs *usually* have pea combs, but as @Ridgerunner explained above, this is not a guarantee.

I’m not convinced that your lovely pullet on the left with her single comb is in fact an EE.

 

[Ridgerunner]

EEs *usually* have pea combs,

Depends on where they come from. If you make them yourself by crossing a blue egg-laying chicken with something else, the American Aneraucana or Araucana has a pea comb. Since the pea comb is partially dominant you will see the effects of that pea comb in the offspring. The British or Australian Araucana can have either a pea or single comb so you don't automatically get a pea comb from them.

If you use a Cream Legbar to make an EE, the Cream Legbar has a single comb so the offspring will not have a pea comb from the Cream Legbar.

The original blue egg laying chickens came from Chile and were single combed. But a neighboring landrace chicken had a pea comb so when they were exported people got confused about what they should look like. People are still confused.

There is no direct genetic link between the pea comb gene and the blue eggshell gene but there is an association. The two gene pairs are so close together on the DNA that if one parent has both there is a high likelihood that they will be transferred to the offspring together. Since both are dominant they often go together.

That's why I say an EE can have any kind of comb. But there is no official definition of what makes an EE anyway so if your personal definition includes a pea comb then they have to have a pea comb.