is their a way to tell which hens are laying eggs and which are not?

[kimt816]

i have 19 hens a mixture of buff o's and rhode islandsx red stars i get anywhere from 6-9 eggs a day but i cant tell who is laying them is their anyway to determine which hens are producing and which arent besides watching who gets in boxes ( thanks )

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Put a dab of food coloring on the top of the vent area. It's not fun but it works

 

[kimt816]

do you do one chicken at a time at a time or different colors ? with 19 girls this ought to be fun

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Ya I mix as many different colors as I can and them put some on one set of hens and wait...then more later on a different set of hens. Pick the ones you THINK may be laying first. Ya I have 15 hens and it was lots of fun. I only have one laying hen but I want to know who lays what and they are all about to start laying...they are 9 weeks old, so I'm all ready

I tried it on my hen I KNOW is laying and it worked

Read about it here on a different thread long ago.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Oh don't forget to mark down on paper which hen has which color

 

[gritsar]

Pick the chicken up and look at the vent. Hens that are laying or really ready to lay will have moist, pink vents. After a good long while of laying they will start to get bare bottoms too.