Red Cone

[Mark Cavalli]

I received two new hens I was told they was a year to a year and a half old I have had them for six days is there anyway by looking at them I can tell their true age. And if they are getting ready to lay will there Cohen get red and not pink. I am new at this so I may have lots of different questions that I'm not sure of I guess you can say I need all the help I can get LOL.

 

[azygous]

You can usually tell if a hen is either very young or very old by how much leg is showing. (Don't laugh.) But you really can't tell their exact age in years.

Generally, very young hens will have all their leg exposed, and maybe even what appears to be "pantaloons". The older a hen gets, the lower her body appears to be to the ground. By the time they're six or seven, they have practically no leg showing.

When a hen becomes fertile and begins to release eggs from her ovaries, her comb turns bright red. Before that, the comb is a dry looking pale pink.

Hens that are molting in fall and early winter may stop ovulating, and their combs return to the dry looking pale pink color. In spring, around early February, you will see the combs start plumping up and turning red again. This signals that eggs will soon be appearing.

You can "fool" hens into starting to lay early by putting a low wattage light in their coop on a timer to come on two or three hours before sunrise. After a few weeks of this light, which effectively makes their days longer, their hormones will be stimulated to start them ovulating.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Hens at 1 to 1 1/2 years of age should have been laying by now. They may not be laying at the moment if you are in the northern hemisphere as the days are too short. (It takes 12 hours of continuous daylight to trigger laying, 14 hours for continuous laying).

It is hard to tell the age of a hen after she has reached maturity. You generally estimate by overall condition.

Younger hens, who have had good care, will have glossy feathers, clean scales on their legs, bright eyes, and a bright, clean comb. As a hen ages, her legs look more craggy, feathers tend to look less pristine, and the comb looks more worn. She overall just looks older. However, as implied, poor care also causes this appearance. A well cared for hen can look bright well into old age.

Most commercial layers however, look "played out" at about 3 years of age.

As to laying, you can check her back end at the vent. A laying hen will have a large, moist, "smile" looking vent. There will be 3 to 4 fingers width between her pelvic bones.

A non-laying hen will have a small, dry, puckered looking vent. There will be only 2 fingers or so between her pelvic bones.

Photos would help us determine what you may have. Pink combs at this time of year indicate not laying. If they are small and pink, you may have younger pullets who have not come into sexual maturity yet.

LofMc

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Hens at 1 to 1 1/2 years of age should have been laying by now. They may not be laying at the moment if you are in the northern hemisphere as the days are too short. (It takes 12 hours of continuous daylight to trigger laying, 14 hours for continuous laying).

It is hard to tell the age of a hen after she has reached maturity. You generally estimate by overall condition.

Younger hens, who have had good care, will have glossy feathers, clean scales on their legs, bright eyes, and a bright, clean comb. As a hen ages, her legs look more craggy, feathers tend to look less pristine, and the comb looks more worn. She overall just looks older. However, as implied, poor care also causes this appearance. A well cared for hen can look bright well into old age.

Most commercial layers however, look "played out" at about 3 years of age.

As to laying, you can check her back end at the vent. A laying hen will have a large, moist, "smile" looking vent. There will be 3 to 4 fingers width between her pelvic bones.

A non-laying hen will have a small, dry, puckered looking vent. There will be only 2 fingers or so between her pelvic bones.

Photos would help us determine what you may have. Pink combs at this time of year indicate not laying. If they are small and pink, you may have younger pullets who have not come into sexual maturity yet.

LofMc

 

[Mark Cavalli]

Thank you for all your help it is daylight here now and I will check them today and see what I can find. Again thanks for all your help it was well needed