Reproductive Theory?

[bhawk-23]

So I have had a hen inside for 12 days now. She was laying when I brought her in for an impacted crop. She laid 2 eggs in the first 4 days inside.

She had surgery on day 5 (7 days ago) for her impacted crop. She is doing well, eating, walking, talking, pooping and all the things chickens do. She is not laying which I figured is from the stress of surgery. I was worried about her calcium intake because the last thing we need is a reproductive issue. But she is getting yogurt multiple times a day which provides calcium.

This morning the bare skin showing on her crop is yellow. I had noticed the skin around her eyes had a yellow tinge but I didn't think much of it.

Here's my theory:

After research on here I learned that yellow skin happens when hens are not laying. When they do lay, the yellow from the skin gets transferred to the yolk, hence a yellow yolk. When they stop laying (say during molt) their skin can turn yellow again. Is this true?

If it is, then I should not be worried about reproductive issues because her body is currently not even producing eggs. The yellowing of her skin is indicative that her body is having a healthy and normal response to the stress which is to stop producing eggs.

I'd love to hear other thoughts about this. Or, especially, if I'm wrong and her yellow skin is actually showing me something is really wrong!

Thanks!

 

[NatJ]

After research on here I learned that yellow skin happens when hens are not laying. When they do lay, the yellow from the skin gets transferred to the yolk, hence a yellow yolk. When they stop laying (say during molt) their skin can turn yellow again. Is this true?

That matches what I have read. It only works for breeds that naturally have yellow skin.

(The breeds with naturally white skin must do something else, because they still produce eggs with yellow yolks, but their skin does not turn yellow when they are not laying.)

 

[bhawk-23]

That matches what I have read. It only works for breeds that naturally have yellow skin.

(The breeds with naturally white skin must do something else, because they still produce eggs with yellow yolks, but their skin does not turn yellow when they are not laying.)

So......I fell like a complete idiot....upon moving ALL the feathers surrounding the crop her skin was lighter. It must be stained from whatever antiseptic they used to was before the surgery Lord I feel stupid. But all I could see was yellow!!! Lol
This was an interesting fact to me when I read about it. Thank you for responding. I wonder what does happen to attain the yellow yolk in naturally white skinned birds. Something for me to look up now, just out of curiosity.

So that leaves me worried about her sudden stop of egg laying again. Ugh, the never ending learning about these girls. Lol

 

[NatJ]

So......I fell like a complete idiot....upon moving ALL the feathers surrounding the crop her skin was lighter. It must be stained from whatever antiseptic they used to was before the surgery Lord I feel stupid. But all I could see was yellow!!! Lol

I have read that the yellow goes in and out of various parts of the body at different rates, and can be used to tell how well a hen has been laying for the past few weeks and months.

Paraphrase from an old book:
Vent and eyering-- yellow noticeably fades after laying 2-3 eggs, comes back about as fast as it went away
Earlobe-- bleaches with 2-3 weeks of laying, yellow after 2+ weeks of not laying
Beak-- entire beak takes 4-6 weeks to change color, working from the base toward the tip
(The beak can have different colors on different parts, according to whether the hen was laying or not as each bit was formed. The tip is the oldest part, with the base being most recent.)
shanks-- indicates 4-6 months of laying or not laying

(Source: Practical Poultry Management, by Rice and Botsford, 1925)

At the time that book was written, people were being advised to identify their best layers by the amount of yellow, and breed from them (much easier than counting actual eggs laid by each hen, if someone has a large flock!)

This was an interesting fact to me when I read about it. Thank you for responding. I wonder what does happen to attain the yellow yolk in naturally white skinned birds. Something for me to look up now, just out of curiosity.

I think the mechanism for getting yellow in the yolk would be the same for all of them. But the mechanism for putting spare yellow into the skin (or not) would be different. I've never figured out the details any better than that.

 

[townchicks]

I wouldn't worry about the calcium in the yogurt. A few weeks of not laying, and getting calcium in her diet are not going to cause an issue. The sudden stop in egg laying is very common in a stressful time.

 

[Ridgerunner]

After research on here I learned that yellow skin happens when hens are not laying. When they do lay, the yellow from the skin gets transferred to the yolk, hence a yellow yolk. When they stop laying (say during molt) their skin can turn yellow again. Is this true?

Where the yellow for the yolks comes from is the food they eat. Some layer feeds list marigold pellets as an ingredient. The only reason marigold pellets are here is to dye the yolks darker yellow. Chickens that get to forage often lay yolks that are dark yellow compared to hens that don't get to forage. That's because they are eating plants that contain stuff that dyes the yolks.

Some people think the yolk color has something to do with egg nutrition. It doesn't. The dark yellow comes from dyes, has nothing to do with nutrients. I still like the look of darker yolks.

If a hen has yellow skin she can use some of that yellow to darken her yolks a little. If she does not have yellow skin she cant.

This link talks about using yellow skin to evaluate egg laying. It might interest you.

https://afs.ca.uky.edu/files/evaluating_egg_laying_hens.pdf

 

[bhawk-23]

I have read that the yellow goes in and out of various parts of the body at different rates, and can be used to tell how well a hen has been laying for the past few weeks and months.

Paraphrase from an old book:
Vent and eyering-- yellow noticeably fades after laying 2-3 eggs, comes back about as fast as it went away
Earlobe-- bleaches with 2-3 weeks of laying, yellow after 2+ weeks of not laying
Beak-- entire beak takes 4-6 weeks to change color, working from the base toward the tip
(The beak can have different colors on different parts, according to whether the hen was laying or not as each bit was formed. The tip is the oldest part, with the base being most recent.)
shanks-- indicates 4-6 months of laying or not laying

(Source: Practical Poultry Management, by Rice and Botsford, 1925)

At the time that book was written, people were being advised to identify their best layers by the amount of yellow, and breed from them (much easier than counting actual eggs laid by each hen, if someone has a large flock!)


I think the mechanism for getting yellow in the yolk would be the same for all of them. But the mechanism for putting spare yellow into the skin (or not) would be different. I've never figured out the details any better than that.

Very interesting that they would use this to tell who to keep and who to call. I think people were much more resourceful and creative before Google. I used to really like talking to my horse's vets. Now this was a while back. But they always had such neat little tid bits of fascinating, and some comical, past practice.
Thank you for sharing this!

I wouldn't worry about the calcium in the yogurt. A few weeks of not laying, and getting calcium in her diet are not going to cause an issue. The sudden stop in egg laying is very common in a stressful time.

I was guessing it is the stress that did the abrupt stop. But what I don't have a good understanding of is how she can literally just stop one day. So what I get worried about is if she is not getting her proper diet of layer feed nor free choice calcium, then there has to be a good chance of reproductive issues. When I realized the yogurt had calcium, egg has protein and water for hydration I felt a little more at ease.
Thank you, it's good to know that a sudden stop does not necessarily mean an imminent threat of reproductive issues.

Where the yellow for the yolks comes from is the food they eat. Some layer feeds list marigold pellets as an ingredient. The only reason marigold pellets are here is to dye the yolks darker yellow. Chickens that get to forage often lay yolks that are dark yellow compared to hens that don't get to forage. That's because they are eating plants that contain stuff that dyes the yolks.

Some people think the yolk color has something to do with egg nutrition. It doesn't. The dark yellow comes from dyes, has nothing to do with nutrients. I still like the look of darker yolks.

If a hen has yellow skin she can use some of that yellow to darken her yolks a little. If she does not have yellow skin she cant.

This link talks about using yellow skin to evaluate egg laying. It might interest you.

https://afs.ca.uky.edu/files/evaluating_egg_laying_hens.pdf

I was quite intrigued when I came across the yellow skin contributing to yellow yolks. I was under the impression it was diet that determines the shade of yolk. I was always confused by the fact my hens all lay different shades of yolks but all eat the same diet.
I'm happy to hear you say the darker the yolk does not mean the more nutritious. Because I hear happy well fed and well kept chickens lay healthy eggs so are some of mine happier than the others? Hmm...lol

I am 8 pages in to a diary of rescues chickens on here. I'll take a break to read through that article. Thank you.

Not sure why these weird random nuts of knowledge intrigue me so much. I cannot read through a whole book but have hyper focus when something like this comes along. My ADHD is really weird like that.