How to tell when chickens quit laying because of age?

[Beekissed]

I've used all the usual tips for identifying current egg layers before I culled and was surprised time and again when I killed an obvious layer when the "tips" did not properly identify her as a layer.

Until...I followed the ultimate tip. You glove up and place your finger, gently, into the vent and palpate the next day's egg through the intestinal wall. You do this at night when you can easily take them off the roost and handle them.

I do this and mark all the chickens who don't have an egg. Then I do it the second night and mark all the chickens who don't have an egg again, remove markers on those who do have an egg the second night. This catches daily egg layers and every other day egg layers~who I allow to stay in my flock if they are older. All birds who have no eggs for two nights in a row are culled.

I've been 100% successful using this method and have never since culled a good laying hen by mistake. I also now have 5 and 6 year old hens who lay daily or every other day in peak season, so age doesn't necessarily have anything to do with it.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

The comb on my hens goes back to being pink if they stop laying. It reddens back up just before they go back to laying. This can be because they went broody, are having a hard molt or because the winter days are too short. It's worked well for me. Most of my flocks have had a wide variety of egg color, shade and tint, plus I have a coop cam. I've also run out to see who was singing the egg song after laying. So, I had a pretty good way of checking the accuracy.

If you know which chickens you suspect, you could cage or pen them separately for a day or two, to see who lays. For something as serious as culling, I'd want to be sure.

That seems young, though, to have stopped laying due to age. My current flock is older than that and still laying regularly. Chickens can live into their teens. I give additional protein when they're molting and use supplemental lighting to keep them laying well going into fall and winter. It's not necessary for pullets, but it makes a big difference with hens.

People all manage their chickens differently. Do you add supplemental lighting? Are any of them molting?

If you've added different breeds over time, some might not be as good at winter laying without supplemental lighting. As hens, they may have started having an issue, if you don't light. Some chickens molt harder than others as adults, even when they're on the same diet. I'm just wondering if you might be seeing a change that's not old age related.