# Strange chicken question



## pmkrv12 (Mar 15, 2012)

Hi all,

We have had chickens now for about 15 months and it has been great. we started with 5 chickens, one died during the winter. Egg bound I believe. And we have for the longest time gotten 1 egg per chicken per day. In the last 3 months we have come down to 2 eggs a day and these chicken were already laying eggs when we got them last year August. So they are coming to the end of their productive lives. I have been getting ready to butcher them by getting everything needed, spending time reading and watching videos on it. At one time we were down to 1 egg a day. This weekend it is going to happen but we are back at 2 eggs a day. I don't want to butcher the chickens that are still laying faithfully. The big problem is which chickens are laying and which ones are not? Last Sunday when I went to get the eggs one of them was laying death next to the roost, it seems she died of natural causes. So 3 left and 2 are laying.

Is there any way to see which ones are still producing eggs?

Told you it was a strange question 

Peter


----------



## Viking (Mar 16, 2009)

I had the same problem with some turkey hens that were laying eggs, I thought I had the non-laying hen picked out for the chopping block, turned out to be the layer, I was mad at myself but the hen tasted good in the end.


----------



## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

I read that some use different colored chalk and dust the hens vent. Chalk transfer to the egg when laid.

Or sit and watch to see which hen enters the nesting box to lay an egg?

How old is your flock? 

You are aware that less daylight the less the hens lay? Some add supplemental lighting in the coop.

My last flock of 8 BOs were 2 1/2 years old. Down to 1 egg every other day for about a month, jumped back up to 3 or 4 a day, then last fall down to zero for 2 months. They joined the noddles for supper.


----------



## smaj100 (Oct 17, 2012)

We have 36 laying hens and are barely getting 7 eggs per day. Most of them are molting and along with the days getting shorter and winter coming it's natural for them to slow down laying.


----------



## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Pick up your hens one at a time. Move the feathers away from their vents and take a look. The laying hens will have a large moist vent. Non laying hens will have smaller dry vents. Also feel how wide their pelvis is. The wider the pelvis the more likely they are laying.

http://vomitingchicken.com/solve-the-mystery-which-hens-are-laying/


----------



## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

smaj100 said:


> We have 36 laying hens and are barely getting 7 eggs per day. Most of them are molting and along with the days getting shorter and winter coming it's natural for them to slow down laying.


Offer them protein treats and it will help them with their molting. The faster they get through it the more likely they are to start laying again. But then I'm sure you know that.


----------



## smaj100 (Oct 17, 2012)

double posted


----------



## pmkrv12 (Mar 15, 2012)

TheLazyL said:


> I read that some use different colored chalk and dust the hens vent. Chalk transfer to the egg when laid.
> 
> Or sit and watch to see which hen enters the nesting box to lay an egg?
> 
> ...


Really never heard of that trick before. The chickens are from spring 2014. Yes I am a aware and they have not had any decrease during last winter


----------



## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

pmkrv12 said:


> ... The chickens are from spring 2014...


Then I'd guess they are slowing down for the winter.


----------



## haley4217 (Dec 16, 2012)

I have several hens that are three years old and still laying eggs, usually about 40 hours between eggs verses about 28 for the one to two year olds. But everyone has slowed down now that the day length has gotten under 12 hours. I used to turn on some light in the coop to lengthen the day and keep them laying through winter. Now I let them rest for two to three months and then start adding light in January to "turn back on" their laying. Protein in fall and winter is important so I increase the protein level of their food and give them the left over cat food which has very high protein. I have one hen who reached five years old thus year, she still gives me two eggs per week.


----------



## haley4217 (Dec 16, 2012)

I usually hatch eggs in late spring or early summer so I can increase hens by about 10%. This means I'll have a few hens that will start laying in fall and then lay through winter so we still have eggs in winter. This also usually offsets my hen losses during the next year.


----------



## pmkrv12 (Mar 15, 2012)

TheLazyL said:


> Then I'd guess they are slowing down for the winter.


Could be but last year they on tinged without any issues


----------



## Starcreek (Feb 4, 2015)

I am in the middle of finding out which ones of my hens are laying. What I've been doing is moving one hen to a cage with food and water, and leaving her there for 2 days. So far, I've done this with 3 hens, and they have each laid one egg in the 2 day period -- from the morning of Day 1 until dusk on Day 2. One egg per hen. I tie a string on the right leg of the ones that lay one egg. I will tie a string on the left leg of any hen that lays 2 eggs. And I will paint something dark on the leg of any hen that lays nothing. The ones with the painted legs will go in the stew pot.


----------



## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

pmkrv12 said:


> Could be but last year they on tinged without any issues


My last flock laid right thru their first winter with no reduced egg laying. Their second winter, egg laying was very noticeably reduced.


----------



## oldasrocks (Jun 30, 2012)

smaj100 said:


> We have 36 laying hens and are barely getting 7 eggs per day. Most of them are molting and along with the days getting shorter and winter coming it's natural for them to slow down laying.


Put a light in the coop and they will lay all winter. We have 12 hens and get 12 eggs a day.


----------



## smaj100 (Oct 17, 2012)

oldasrocks said:


> Put a light in the coop and they will lay all winter. We have 12 hens and get 12 eggs a day.


We only add infrared heating lamps when the temps drop into the single digits for heat. We kinda feel like the chickens need a break and this is natures way of giving them a few months of down time.


----------



## haley4217 (Dec 16, 2012)

smaj100 said:


> We only add infrared heating lamps when the temps drop into the single digits for heat. We kinda feel like the chickens need a break and this is natures way of giving them a few months of down time.


I agree and believe it's a good procedure to keep the flock healthy and viable. I have new layers added to the flock between August and October. Only first year layers will lay through winter with no additional lighting. Everyone else starts to slow down or stop laying by November. They "rest" and store energy through December and January. Come February I start slowly adding light to the coop in early morning. By March laying slowly returns to normal. Overall health seems better and molting is much less severe in the fall.


----------



## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Hens lay between 80-240 eggs per year for 5-7 years.


----------



## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

crabapple said:


> Hens lay between 80-240 eggs per year for 5-7 years.


Production hybrid hens lay almost every day for 1-3 years before they quit.


----------



## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Grimm said:


> Production hybrid hens lay almost every day for 1-3 years before they quit.


My estimate came from the book Hen Keeping by Mike Hatcher.

It could be light on some of the hybrids or the birds you are thinking of are not covered in the book. :dunno:


----------



## pmkrv12 (Mar 15, 2012)

One thing I wanted to mention we went 4 eggs day, one each to 2 day in August not recently. So this not related to the winter coming. I will look up the chickens butts tomorrow to see if I can see what was suggested. We have our chickens for eggs, so if they don't lay they..... Go

Pmk


----------



## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Just to make you feel better, we have 7 chickens. 3 are laying while the other 4 should start any time now. The 3 laying use to give me almost 3 eggs a day. About 20 eggs a week give or take an egg. Now we only get 14 eggs a week give or take 3 eggs.


----------



## smaj100 (Oct 17, 2012)

Blasted a skunk today out in the pasture, i've seen 1 or 2 around the barn but never had a good shot on them. Our girls free range all day and they have a few nests out in the open barn. We've noticed lately fewer and fewer eggs. I suspect the skunk or skunks had been eating them, and the goats weren't telling anyone. 

It was a little odd, since it was broad daylight and the skunk was just out in the open running around the pasture digging for grubs and such. Those critters stink dead or alive!!!


----------



## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

Tractor supply has chicks listed as “pre-sexed” every spring with no breed name. They are actually “French Browns”, a cross between RIR hen and a RI White rooster. They are incredible layers. When they first start they will lay every 22 hours, as they age the number of hours between eggs increases, but all hens do that. My one old surviving hen lays an egg about every 33 hours.

But I’ve all my hens stop laying for unexplained reasons a few times. It was either last fall or the year before they all quit for 50 days… I thought about bringing their feed to them in a frying pan… lol. 

I've had some or most quit because of molting but the unexplained stoppages are puzzling. I've had most of my hens quit because of the heat in August before if that helps.


----------



## pmkrv12 (Mar 15, 2012)

Thanks everyone, we have gotten six new chickens and the 3 old ones are in the fridge. I have read about leaving the chicken in fridge for 1 to 2 days to soften the meat. Basically letting the rigor mortis (Not if I spelled that correctly) out, last night after 2 day the legs were still very stiff. So we are leaving them in the fridge one more day. 
How long have any of you seen it takes for the rigor mortis to go away.

Peter


----------

