Hen pelvic bones

[anicluck]

Hi all, I just got a couple of 1-2 year old hens from a friend. When I ‘privacy tested’ then I found that I couldn’t only fit 2-2.5 fingers in between their bones whereas a laying hen should be able to fit 3-4. Do these bones move back into place when they get more sunlight in the spring or are they done laying altogether? Thank you in advance!

 

[sourland]

As their hormonal levels increase and they prepare to restart a laying cycle, the pelvic bones will separate.

 

[K0k0shka]

You'd need to have some reeeeally skinny fingers to expect to fit 3 or 4. Usually it's more like 2. Take an egg and see how many of your fingers you can fit in its diameter. That's the spacing you're looking for.

 

[aart]

I just got a couple of 1-2 year old hens from a friend. When I ‘privacy tested’ then I found that I couldn’t only fit 2-2.5 fingers in between their bones whereas a laying hen should be able to fit 3-4.

The 'finger measurement' is highly variable.
Depends on the humans finger size and the chicken size.
There are other things to take into consideration too.

Do these bones move back into place when they get more sunlight in the spring or are they done laying altogether?

The bone spacing will close back up when a bird is not laying, like during molt or winter break