Question About Laying Hens and Pelvic Bones

[Tabari]

Hello,

I have a question about laying hens and pelvic bones. When a hen is in the middle of a molt, do her pelvic bones stay wide or do they narrow and re-open after molt?

I have a flock of about 40 molting RIR that are 1 year, 8 months old, and most of them only have one or two fingers width between their pelvic bones. I'm only getting 16 eggs a day right now. I disturbed a few of the hens that were sitting in the nesting boxes, and they had three fingers width.

So are the narrow pelvis hens done laying for good, or will they start laying again later?

Thank you so much!
Tabari

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They'll start up again. There's no way a RIR under 2 years is done for good. They can lay 10 years if nutrition is right and no disease. They'll just take longer breaks every year. It will mostly be in autumn and some may not start up again till days start getting longer.