Which chickens are laying

[David and Julia]

i have 8 chickens. I get 3 eggs a day. How do I tell which ones are laying or more to the point which ones are Not laying. They are about two years old.

 

[David and Julia]

To add to my post question. Their house is about 8’ square, their outside run is about 10’ by 20’ I occasionally let them out into my garden about 1 to 2 hours before they go in to roost. They are not laying in my yard - it is too late in the day and I only let them out once a week or two. I feed them commercial laying mash, and cracked corn and any scraps from our kitchen and garden stuff like weeds, lawn mowings - in lawn mowing season.

 

[Hufflefluff]

There are a few ways to do this. First of all, depending on the age and breed of your chickens, it's possible they're all laying- one egg every 2 or three days isn't uncommon. However, if that's not the case, here are some things to look for in laying hens:
- Red comb/wattles- although combs and wattles will stay reddish if the bird has just stopped laying for the winter, if they haven't layed before then only the layers or soon to be layers will sport this color
- Moist, healthy vents- the vent of a non layer will be visibly dry and feathery compared to the vent of a laying bird. You can also check for rigidity of pelvic bones, I think.
- Color of skin- If your birds have naturally yellow skin, then the skin of layers will gradually bleach over time; I forget the order, but you could look it up if you have yellow skinned hens
- Squatting- laying birds will squat as if for a rooster when you approach them correctly/ hover over them. Not all layers do this for people, but it's very common and layer- specific
- Singing 'egg songs'- Most hens only do this if they are laying, and it's a good general indicator
- Feather quality- hens who are laying regularly should look like it. Unless if they just molted, hens shouldn't have entirely sleek, glossy feathers, as most of their protein is going toward egg production. Also, molting hens never lay.

Hopefully some of these help. You could also try trap nests, which would keep hens in the nest after they laid. Good luck!

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC!

More info would help.
Where are you located in the world?
If you are in the northern hemisphere, did your birds molt last fall?
So are they just coming back into lay now?

Here is info about their nethers, and other parts, that can offer clues to:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

 

[akch]

I was asking myself the same question a few weeks ago. I ending up sticking a cheap wifi camera with motion detection in the nesting box. I've figured out who the most and least productive birds are. I have a one year old that hasn't laid since I've started keeping track, while the others are pretty consistent. Strange since they were all hatched at the same time. I also solved mysteries about which ones were calcium deficient: laying and eating the eggs. Supplemented with oyster shells and have verified the birds in question were corrected. Hours of fun watching the camera feed.