Heather of The Homesteading Hippy always has awesome information to share with all of us. And if you have egg layers, this is information you will want to pay attention too. How do you know when your bird is done laying eggs? The Homesteading Hippy shares important informaiton for you. Follow The Homesteading Hippy on Facebook for all the day to day happenings around Heather’s homestead.
Layer or Liar? How do you know if your chicken is still laying eggs?
With the price of feed going dramatically up for us in the winter, it’s really important for us to know if our hens are really laying still. I *could* go outside, watch for each one to enter the nesting box, wait for her to deposit her egg, then mark her in a way that I would know she was still laying. But, since I don’t have that kind of time on my hands, there is an easier way to do it.
Check her vent.
Here’s how. Gently hold your chicken and flip her over so you can see her vent. This is her “butt” or where the eggs come out of. You are looking for a moist looking vent. A dry one signals that her laying life isn’t happening.
Also, feel her abdomen. If it’s nice and soft, you have a layer. Hard and firm, a liar.
Finally, check her comb and leg color. A chicken will “lose” her color from the top down and gain it back in the same order. When she is in full egg production, her comb will begin to lose it’s deep color, on down. If her legs are a bright yellow, her laying life is pretty much over.
With all these signs, the top pictures of each group are from an obvious liar, and the bottom a layer. You have to decide if the liar is worth keeping around. In our cases, personally, they are not and we cull them from the flock. Continue here….
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