Yep...I use zip ties 4-5 colors and right leg / left leg / multiple ties.thanks all!
yeah, i understand well the daylight thing already. even in here at 22 degrees latitude it still has an effect.
right now we have precisely two different age groups, seven older hens and foir new pullets. ultimately by next year we would be replacing all the older girls anyway.
i realize that making longer term judgements based on what a hen is doing right at a particular moment may not be ideal--but its a heck of bit better than just eanie meanie minie mo, which was about where we were at the other day! And at least it prevents you from culling an active layer, and guarantees some feed savings short term.
Ive been doing some more reading and will try to make the time to go through the flock again real soon to measure pubic bones and such armed with increased knowledge of what to look for. i may do this a couple of times if i have to put off slaughter for a week or two anyway just to double check my work and make sure i dont cull anybody just coming out of molt too!
having different breeds for different age groups def works--but isnt it just as easy to use bands to mark age groups, even the cheapie ones without numbers (on the older hens, not the pullets)? eg pullets = no band, yearlings = one band, older = one band on each leg, etc? thats what we do--the only prob i see is it could be time consuming only if you had dozens or hundreds ...