Episode 69: How To Tell If A Hen Is Laying Eggs?!

I was asked by Runamuk Farm how to tell if a bird is still laying eggs in your backyard flock? These are the tips and tricks (as well as the facts) to help you suss out whose earning their grain!

[@jenniferkleffner8110]

If you've ever butchered a chicken who was laying, you'll find inside a whole series of eggs in various forms of development from tiny to almost fully formed, but without the shell. So they can't just stop laying on a dime due to stress. It takes a while for all those partial eggs to work their way down the system and finish. I too have had chickens lay eggs in crates during transport. When you got to go, you got to go. :-). Good info. Need to check my flock and cull some old birds.

[@ChattahoocheeHomestead]

Are you sure the broody is the layer? In my experience a true broody stops laying eggs once she really settles in (sometimes takes a week) and won't lay again until some period after hatching out their chicks. But other chickens will lay eggs in her nest while she is setting, and she will also steal eggs laid by other chickens whenever possible. Maybe my silkies and silkie hybrids are different...but I can tell any new eggs are from different chickens since each one lays a slightly different type egg (color, shape, size, etc). And when I find one that has gone broody I mark those eggs so any new eggs get pulled out. She may be faking lol.

[@LetsBeClear87]

Great video 👍 Hey Jenna, can you do a helpful hints video on how to keep chickens in town vs a rural setup and/or in a warmish environment vs colder places ?? Thatd be so great.

[@chrishughes337]

Haha Jenna at the cooking videos! We'll love your cooking videos! Could you do some goat videos? Like your milking routine, do you pasturize the milk why or why not and so on. Love the daily vlogs!

[@waitingforspring317]

I would love cooking videos from you. I wouldn't expect recipes as much as seeing your methods and your special ingredients! I haven't ever cooked homegrown chicken or rabbit or apple pie from foraged apples so I think that makes it a cooking video I would love to aee. Also, I would love any videos on how to clean rabbit or other wild game and prepare it.

[@mamalbug]

Good info on the chicken. I always wondered if there was a better way than guessing. Lol on the cooking. I cook the same way. It drives my family nuts because I'll hit something fantastic one time but it'll never be the same again.

[@KayleighJeanTarot]

Hi! Thanks for this great video! I have five 20 week old pullets and five older layers I inherited from our landlords. I checked their vents like you said in this video and the older birds have wider, white vents, exactly like you said. I've been trying to determine when my pullets will start laying eggs (I don't think they have yet). Their vents have a bit more of that yellow look to them. Is this a sign of illness? They seem to be quite healthy pullets, very active free rangers, they're alert and gaining weight. I'm just worried about the yellow now :/

[@tammybarnette9133]

Love your channel! How long do you keep chickens before you cull them out I have backyard chickens and not sure when to get rid of the older ones. I've learned a lot from you. Keep up the great vids.

[@hectormaldonado4369]

Thnx for the tips

[@aartwmich]

Other options for Signs of onset of lay---I've found the pelvic points to be the most accurate. Squatting: If you touch their back they will hunker down on the ground, then shake their tail feathers when they get back up. This shows they are sexually mature and egg laying is close at hand. Combs and Wattles: Plump, shiny red - usually means laying. Shriveled, dryish looking and pale - usually means not laying. Tho I have found that the combs and wattles can look full and red one minute then pale back out the next due to exertion or excitement, can drive ya nuts when waiting for a pullet to lay! 2 bony points(pelvic bones) on either side of vent: Less than 2 fingertip widths apart usually means not laying. More than 2 fingertip widths apart usually means laying.

[@ponygirl5716]

I'm fine with the "quick and dirty" method--bring on the video with how you make your apple pie!

[@gunmetalglitter4060]

Best opening ever.

[@lazulimoon1970]

So, cloaca has to be white, moist and pulsating... if it is yellow or darker collor, without moisture and barely moving means she is not laying eggs yet. If we can separate them for 48 hours in a secluded cage we will be able to confirm if they are laying eggs yet or not.

[@10yearvet]

Good info to know Thanks. Don't chickens yet. Got to stabilize some things before I add another task. Yeah, I don't cook according to recipes either. I use them only as a guide if at all. Doing bread and butter pickles today. I looked up several recipes that had all the same basic ingredients, which is what I was looking for, but all had different amounts. I'll be adjusting that by smell and taste.

[@carolann183]

Love your video!

[@mrs8792]

That hen looks insulted! 🤣😂🤣

[@frankthompson7095]

Hi

[@johnlord8337]

When the hen goes, ... BA (-)uuuuuck! Woo-ow whew woo-ow whew woo-ow whew .... She laid a big a--ed egg out of her vent! OK men, listen up to what she said! Puckering, wet, white b--t holes for fertile hens, no yellow, dry b--t holes. And especially no brown, wet or dry b--t holes!

[@arthurdejager1775]

hi, kwl vid...do you have a video about how to make a nest/netsbox? ?

[@CaylaFenton-Reeder]

How does a goat or sheep in heat look like and how can tell if a female has become a preggo. Great chicken video :)

[@williamarmstrong1017]

lol..Chicken says don't talk about her butt!

[@greatdanerescuemom1]

the only way to cook, .. it is thru love and on the fly.... the same way I do.. blessings.

[@sharlaoverton5799]

I hate distructions! But I tend to get about the same flavor every time. I tend to cook by smell and flavor

[@jkboy789]

Could you do a video about turkeys sometime?

[@sweetheartsmom]

can you do a video on how to break a broody hen?

[@bigqq4011]

THANK! come back...

[@nub9688]

No one cares about cooking, that's why there are restaurant s and microwaves, hehe. One request tho, make a video about you shooting your guns, duno how much acres you have with a natural backstop....

[@nub9688]

I thought you had the "ISIS" flag in the background......

[@jwoginrich]

+Nu B It is the Helm of Awe, Heathen sign of protection and mystery.

[@melissamauk3530]

That kind of cooking video would be way more informative about the process of cooking. You don't learn how to cook with exact recipes.