How can I tell which of my hens are still laying?

[Rreese]

My flock has 6 hens that are about 3 yrs now, and 3 (hopefully) pullets. The hens are 5 Heritage RIR and one Buff Wellington. I'm only getting 1-2 eggs/day. How can I tell who is laying and who isn't? The coop has 2 large nesting boxes that they all share & is really hard to tell.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Start by looking at each bird and comparing the condition (color, fullness, etc) of the comb and wattles. An actively producing hen will have a nice, waxy looking, plump comb with good color -- a non-producing hen will generally have a paler, drier appearing comb. Take a look at their vents - are they large and moist in appearance or small and dry?
It is possible they are all still laying - just not at the rate you were accustomed to them producing during previous laying cycles. At three years of age it would be expected that you would start to see less productive laying cycles from them.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Did you recently integrate the pullets into the group of hens? If so, how long ago and what was production like prior to that change?

 

[Rreese]

The pullets are near them, but separated. This started about 6 mos before that & lead us to getting 3 pullets. A few have whitish combs, haven't checked their veins. These were inherited to us, so we aren't attached, but don't want to lose any without being sure.