I put the Wyze camera where we could see the popular nest boxes. It is neat because we can see the chickens in the nests, but the angle does not make seeing their colored leg bands easy (or even possible).

So we are trying a new method of chicken identification, at least for the purposes of figuring out who was on the nest when. I took pictures of all their combs, which are all slightly different. (Scientists identify orca whales in a similar way; by taking pictures of their dorsal fins.) Trying to get a clear picture of the comb when they are wiggly and their head is rarely still was a challenge, but eventually I figured out to tuck the subject under my arm and angle my phone camera back toward their head. I then used Adobe Lightroom to adjust the photos and get the combs all facing the same way.

I printed a reference sheet and then checked the camera. I think this is a viable method! I was able match Jade’s comb with the reference. Not sure how much time I will spend going through the saved footage to figure out who laid what egg, but it might be helpful if I have an off egg and need to figure out the culprit.