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when your judging laying hens, your looking for laying ability, and a good hen would put all her effort in to laying eggs, so:
1) look for pigment in the legs and beak, Keratin provides the yellow in the pigment, but keratin also is the shell of the egg, so if they have less pigment that means that they devoted more to the egg then to themselves, this is a quality of a good laying hen.
2) good hens wont have good/ new feathers, look at the primary feathers, if they look old then its a good layer, if they have grown new feathers then they are not devoting all they can to laying eggs.
3) look for fat deposits around their vent, if they are storing fat then they aren't devoting all they have to laying.
as far as the 4th trait, im not sure, Im an animal science major at the University of Kentucky, and we use these traits to judge laying ability.
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∙ 14y ago
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Is the cold weather a factor in my hens not laying?
Cold weather does effect a hens laying. when the temperature is below 55 degrees or so this can effect a hens production. Mainly though the reduction in hours of daylight causes hens to stop laying. Anything below 14 hours of daylight will cause a hen to stop laying.
Do you have to have a roaster to have laying hens?
No you dont
How old does a chicken have to be to begin laying eggs?
Most hens begin laying eggs at about 16 to 20 weeks old. This depends on the breed and nutritional health of the hen. The hens first egg (s) are often small and can even be yolkless.
Do ALL hens make a noise when they lay an egg?
No, not all hens cackle while laying.
Do you a have a rooster to have laying hens?
no. they will lay without a rooster
What are egg laying chickens called?
Layers or Hens.
How many laying hens are there in the UK?
29 million
Will 2 Roosters with 4 Laying Hens slow egg production?
They shouldn't effect the process of laying eggs. It's always up to the hens attitude for that day.
How can you tell which of your hens are laying?
The hen who is laying will have an inflamed comb. When they stop laying or aren't laying yet, their combs become a pinkish-pale color.
Why does rooster kill your egg laying hens?
because its a chubnub.
Ho many laying hens do some U.S farms have?
Some farms have 1.5 to 2 million laying hens, producing about 400 million eggs a year. The number of farms with 1 million or more hens, or layers, has increased in the 1990s.
What is a rhode island red hens diet?
The same as other laying hens - layer feed, preferrably organic crumbles.
