Six Points for Selecting Productive Laying Hens in Autumn—Don’t Overlook the Small Details

In autumn, older hens begin to molt and young hens begin laying. This is the season for adjusting the flock and selecting breeding hens. The flock should be adjusted and assessed according to plan. To improve the economic returns of poultry farming, cull low-producing hens promptly and keep high-producing hens, based on the hens’ physiological changes. The following methods can be used to distinguish productive hens from less productive ones:

1, Comb and wattles: Hens that are laying have bright-red, fine-textured, warm combs and wattles because their blood circulation is vigorous. In hens that have stopped laying, the comb and wattles gradually become pale and shrink; they turn pale and dry, and feel cool to the touch.

2, Cloaca: In laying hens, the cloaca is large, oval, moist, and relaxed, and appears white. In hens that have stopped laying, it shrinks, becomes wrinkled and dry, and is usually yellow.

3, Pubic bones: In laying hens, the pubic bones are spread apart, soft, and springy, with a gap three to four fingers wide (known as the laying space). In hens that have stopped laying, the ends of the pubic bones are close together and hard, usually allowing only one or two fingers; they curve inward and are hard.

4, Distance between the pubic bones and the keel bone: This indicates the size of the abdominal cavity. In laying hens, the gap is wide enough to fit four to five fingers. In hens that have stopped laying, the gap is narrow and fits only two to three fingers.

5, Abdomen: In laying hens, the abdomen is enlarged, soft, and springy. In hens that have stopped laying, the abdomen is tight and hard, and the skin is rough.

　　6, pigmentation: In hens that are laying eggs, the beak and legs turn pale yellow or white. This is because the yellow pigment accumulated in the hen's body is used to form the yolk, causing areas where the pigment is visible externally to become pale yellow or white. This is especially noticeable on the beak and legs. Hens that have stopped laying use little of the yellow pigment in their bodies, so their beaks and legs remain yellow.

　　7, molting: This is one of the most important characteristics for assessing a hen's production performance. The feathers of high-producing hens are dull, dingy, dry, damaged, and untidy, while those of low-producing hens are neat and glossy. Older hens molt in autumn. Since feathers are mainly made of protein, hens generally stop laying during molting. Some high-producing hens continue laying while molting, and it takes them a relatively long time to grow a full set of new feathers. High-producing hens molt later and their new feathers grow quickly; after their new feathers have fully grown, they resume laying.