how to tell the age of a chicken

[chickencrossing]

Hi i have two buff orpington hens, when i bought them there was an egg in the box and later found out that it was fertile. This is the third day in my coop with my other birds.The two buffs are segragated from my other chickens am i think they may be a little startled. I want to know how to tell the age of a chicken. Thank you!

 

[ChicKat]

Welcome to the forum.

Aging a chicken is difficult.

Since your chickens are laying they have probably passed the 20-weeks mark, so they are at least 4-5 months old.

When a chicken reaches 18-months it may shed all the old feathers to replace them with new ones. If the plumage looks like it could use refreshing, but the hens are fully feathered, then they may be approaching a molt. However this is not a hard and fast rule, because, part of the timing for molting depends on the age of the bird....if it was born in the spring or fall for example.

If the chicken appears to be loosing feathers, then it could be molting and this around 18 or even 36 months. Again just a rough estimate not a hard and fast rule. If you know the chicken is 'older' and has the nicest, freshest looking feathers, she may have completeted the molt so in the neighborhood of 20-months or 40 months.

Last thing I have heard is the older a hen gets, the rougher the scales on her shanks........

Hope this helps a little bit --