Chicken Question

[dewdropsinwv]

As most of you know I have 11 hens. They are two years old now. Early this spring I had to have Monty J put one down for an imapacted crop. Now I'm seeing a problem with a lack of eggs. Some days I am lucky and get 6 eggs but most days I only get 4. Can any of you tell me if I would be able to isolate them to find out who are laying and who still is not laying? I appreciate your help.
Id hate to do it, but I'm seriously considering culling the entire flock.

 

[Ridgerunner]

This is going to be long Dew but there are a few things to talk about.


Did you provide light over the winter to stop them molting and keep laying eggs? If you did they may just be burned out and needing a molt to recharge their system. If you did and stopped the light so the daylight is shorter they may be molting.


I’m pretty sure you keep you hens penned up, but make sure they are not hiding a nest on you. Other than a molt, the hens hiding a nest is the biggest cause for them to ”not lay” when they should.


Can something be getting the eggs? This is not likely but I’ll mention it. Most things would leave evidence such as bits of egg shell or soggy messes but a few things cause eggs to totally disappear without a trace. Snakes can but a snake is not consistent. It will come and eat a few eggs, however many it can hold based on size, leave for a few days until it has digested them, then come back for more. If you are missing about the same number of eggs every day it’s not a snake.


Canines like a fox, coyote, or dog will take eggs without a trace but a fox or coyote would probably be more interested in your hens. A dog might eat eggs and leave the chickens alone if it has access. Do you have a pet dog that has learned the egg song is an invitation to a snack?


The chickens themselves, skunks, possums, raccoons, or rats, might eat eggs but they will leave traces. The chickens may eat the shells if it is any of these but they don’t normally get all of them. It’s possible but probably not this.


A human will remove eggs and leave no trace.


In general, if it is any of these they don’t necessarily get all the eggs. They get the ones that have been laid when they show up. When I had a hen opening eggs to eat them she didn’t open them all, just one or two a day.


If several have quit laying, how do you determine which ones it is? Not all of them are going to lay every day so just locking one up for a day won’t necessarily tell you that she is not laying. This one might appeal to Monty, do a trap nest. Rig up the nests so every time a hen goes in she gets caught. If you find an egg and a hen in a nest, she is laying. You need to be around to check them regularly for this to work though. It’s not practical for most of us.


If a hen is laying her vent is going to be fairly large, soft, and moist. If she is not laying her vent is going to be tight and dry. If she has just quit laying, lays only once every few days, or is about to start laying her vent can look pretty soft and wet, but if the vent is tight and dry, she is not about to lay.


Chickens that are laying should have a bright red comb and wattles. If the comb and wattles are pale or yellowish, she is probably not laying. Again if she just quit or is about to start her comb and wattles should be pretty bright red.


If a hen is laying her keel is wide. The bones in her vent area are well separated. If she is not laying they are probably fairly close together. I’ll attach a link that talks more about this and some other things.


This one is less definite and only works if you have hens with yellow legs, but a yellow legged hen will use some of that yellow to color her egg yolks. If a hen has been laying a long time her legs and other certain yellow body parts will be pretty pale. A hen with bright yellow legs is not laying much if at all, or has just finished a molt and starting to lay again.


I haven’t tried this but a lot of people say it works, put some food coloring in a hen’s vent in the morning before she lays. When a hen lays an egg the part of her internal plumbing that does the egg actually protrudes a bit from her vent to isolate the egg from the other functions of that vent, but you should still see streaks of color on the egg shell. With ten hens you’d have to do a few at a time but I’m sure you could manage that.


Something else I’ve read about is doing this with lipstick instead of food coloring. Just use different colored lipstick to mark different hens but painting around the vent. No way am I going to do this and explain to my wife or the neighbors why I’m putting lipstick on a hen’s vent but maybe you wouldn’t mind explaining it to Monty.


Let me see what I can attach for your further reading pleasure.


Virginia Tech – Stopped Laying

http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/2902/2902-1097/2902-1097.pdf


Florida – Stopped Laying –

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/ps/ps02900.pdf

 

[Smart Red]

Very good and well detailed, Ridgerunner! The only thing you left out is checking for roosters. Dew, let's see how the lipstick works.

 

[hoodat]

The mental picture of a hen with lipstick on her rear end cracks me up.

 

[Smart Red]

Hoodat, if that cracks you up, imagine how the rooster will feel.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Red, wouldn't that depend on the shade of lipstick? Wouldn't some be more attractive on certain hens than others depending on their individual style and coloring. I'm sure there are enough experts on cosmetics to answer that burning question for us.

 

[Smart Red]

Oh, of course you are right, Ridgerunner! But I wasn't thinking of the lipstick on the hen.

 

[so lucky]

Dew, your hens aren't very old, are they? Only about 2 years? This is the time of the year they should be laying like gangbusters. Ridge gave excellent advice, as usual. The most effective way for me is to look at the comb and wattles. Bright red means laying or will be very soon.
Do you have neighbors who might be helping themselves?

 

[hoodat]

Red, wouldn't that depend on the shade of lipstick? Wouldn't some be more attractive on certain hens than others depending on their individual style and coloring. I'm sure there are enough experts on cosmetics to answer that burning question for us.

 

[lesa]

I don't like to keep my hens past 2 years. They still lay, but not dependably. This is the time of year, I start with new chicks. By the time fall is here, my older birds will go to freezer camp- and the young ones will be ready to lay. If I had my "someday" farm and lots of room, I wouldn't hesitate to let the birds live to old age. I have a very limited amount of space, so nonproducing hens are not an option.