How will I know who is laying eggs?

[Jenny]

How will I know which of my 4 girls has laid an egg. Only got the Thursday of last week so not expecting anything yet.

[LisaB]

What breeds are they?
If they're not all different coloured egg layers then the only way to know is to watch them 24/7 to see who goes to the nestbox
Although, over time sometimes you do learn who lays which egg, sometimes one will always lay a smaller, rounder eggs than the others, or one might be more tanned, or speckely - but there's not really a definite answer.
Although - why do you need to know who lays? I don't have much of a clue which of ours lay unless I see them in the nest box!

[fishpond]

More to the point.
Where are they going to lay them and will you find them?

[MissEllie]

I liked Lucy's advice when someone asked this before...

'Sellotape different coloured felt pens to their bums and you'll be able to tell by the coloured line on the egg!'

[Jenny]

Just thought I would ask as I have seen previous post like "my so and so" has laid an egg. We have got a light sussex and a rhode island red. Not sure what the other two are other they are black and gray (see previous post for pictures). We were just given what was first pulled out of the box and our french was not good enough other than asking for 4 chickens like the ones on the leaflet.

[LisaB]

Yeahh, I loved that Ellie!

I think when chooks first come in the lay their eggs are a different colour anyway, a few of my battys have just come in to lay and their eggs are pink! But were tan before
You will probably learn to tell whose egg is whose over time if it's just 4 girls and different breeds, when I had three ex-batts after I while I learned who laid which egg, but now I have 9 most of the time I don't have a clue

[tamk23]

Just thought I would ask as I have seen previous post like "my so and so" has laid an egg. We have got a light sussex and a rhode island red. Not sure what the other two are other they are black and gray (see previous post for pictures). We were just given what was first pulled out of the box and our french was not good enough other than asking for 4 chickens like the ones on the leaflet.

My chickens are hybird and my grey ones looks the same as yours and is a blue bell. The lady I got mine from also sells a black one the same as yours (if hybrid) and are rhode rocks x

[Jenny]

Thank you tamk23 - will go and look on the net for blue bell and rhode rocks.

[Mo]

If you are a new owner and at home all the time you may rush out every time a hen starts shouting that it has laid, and see what the egg looks like and learn that Susan lays the white egg (well, she was the only white hen so that was easy), Jane lays the freckled one, etc.
But as Lisa says, the colour of the egg varies (if they haven't laid for a bit the pigment may be stored up so the egg may be darker, if the shell is thin it may be paler).

You don't need to know (except that if one is looking sorry for herself it helps to know when she last laid).

But I get all the same breed, and now the novelty has worn off I don't watch quite so closely, so I don't know.

[Jenny]

Definatly blue bell and rhode rocks - thanks again.

[tamk23]

Definatly blue bell and rhode rocks - thanks again.

No probs - I sent you a private message with a website address so you could look, but you must have found some anyway x

[Jenny]

Mo - you mentined them shouting when they lay an egg - any more details please.

[LisaB]

Mo - you mentined them shouting when they lay an egg - any more details please.

Quite a few girls shout after they've laid an egg - it's different from all the other calls so you should be able to tell when one has laid

[debby]

hi i have a bluebell and she lets the world know that she has laid !!! and the legbar has started to do the same, however my buff orp will shout at me and whoever is around that she wants to !!!!!, the rest well the are normal !!!!!!!! so all in all they will do what they want to either loudly or quiet, they are just so funny i love em xx

[LittleBrownFrog]

As the others say - you don't really need to know, but there are times when it could be useful. Once you've had them for a while & spent some time watching them, you'll get to know them