size of eggs

[aart]

I'm pretty sure both of my youngest have started laying but I think I will check the pelvic points just to get an idea for the next group of chicks. What about my older girl's? Out of 10 hens I get 5-9 eggs but the average is 7 a day. I can only identify 3 of them for sure, they are all leghorns and they are the only ones who lay white eggs. How can I tell which one of my older girl's isn't laying anymore. Also is it common for them to stop laying at only 3 years old?

Older birds pelvic points also will get closer together when not in lay.....as far as I know
I have only personally confirmed this by checking a couple that were in molt, points had 'narrowed' and vent was smaller and 'drier'.
Some high production birds do fall off production sharply at 3 years old, or they could be slowing down/stopping getting ready for the annual molt.

 

[madcatter69]

Thanks so much for the advice. Unfortunately when our hens stop laying they are destined for... Well you know what. I don't like it but everyone has to earn their keep and I want to give them every chance I can to keep laying. I've gotten pretty attached to them...

 

[aart]

Thanks so much for the advice. Unfortunately when our hens stop laying they are destined for... Well you know what. I don't like it but everyone has to earn their keep and I want to give them every chance I can to keep laying. I've gotten pretty attached to them...

Yeah, I 'harvest' my older layers too.....no females older than about 2 1/2 in my coop.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Thanks so much for the advice. Unfortunately when our hens stop laying they are destined for... Well you know what. I don't like it but everyone has to earn their keep and I want to give them every chance I can to keep laying. I've gotten pretty attached to them...

Nothing wrong with that as long as you provide them a good life during their productive time with you. I approach it as a 2 laying cycle commitment with most of the birds I have kept (there are always those special ones here and there) - because, by the third laying cycle you start to see a decline in overall productivity. Birds that are at the point of flock reduction can be harvested or sold/given away.....I find that 2 - 2 1/2 year old hens are fairly easy to sell.
One approach that can help you maintain a steady supply of eggs is to use a rotational flock management approach. What I mean is, start with group A the first year - these birds begin production around 5-7 months of age and will generally lay fairly steadily to about 18 months of age (first molt). The following year you bring in group B chicks. If you get your chicks the same time of year then the new chicks will be arriving at around the 12 month mark for group A - this means they will be at the onset of production (5-7 months) when group A goes into molt so, theoretically, you don't see a major disruption of your egg supply. The following year group C is introduced. You remove birds at the end of the second laying cycle, which for group A in this example is about the time group C is beginning to lay and group B is entering the first molt. Some folks keep their birds for just one laying cycle, selling them off at the first molt, but I find the "cost" of feeding the birds through that molt to get to the second laying cycle to be a worthwhile investment of time and money given the productivity of that second cycle.