Who is Laying.....and Who is Not? Butt Check!

Absolutely loved this explanation- especially the cartoon like picture which correctly helped me understand exactly where I am measuring! Previous to which, from just reading various explanations, I would have measured under (not between) the pelvic bones and been completely misled.
Without catching the chooks, I do find that you can ALSO tell fairly clearly through close observation at a distance of their behind and their waddle/walk.
Non- layers legs are closer together and run like road-runner, neck elegantly extended far forward. Layers look wider between the legs when viewed from behind, giving them a broad, slightly wider, lower to the ground look and tend to waddle-run, sticking their necks up a little and lifting their wings out a little for balance. It's far easier to catch a fat, laying hen than a lithe, little chicken runner too. Here is my fluffy butt after her winter moult and the egg she proudly lay on the Winter solstice!

Thanks! I did not know all all of this, and it's very useful!!

I'm sure this is good information, but what if your hens are skittish and won't let you near? We let our broody hens hatch the chicks and they are "wild" and won't be handled.

I am not new to laying chickens but it has been over 50 years since I had chickens for a 4-H project. Yeppers, I am over 70 and loving my hens!

I have a flock of five and only one is laying! This was very helpful in finding out who that one is

I'm new to having my own chickens and this is so helpful! So glad I found this website and group! THANK YOU!!

I watch the color of the combs. Also as they age they have produced less and less eggs. One day I was cleaning the greenhouse and found a rat nest with 6 eggs in it. The rats SOMEHOW carried the eggs across the yard and into a rats nest below the pallet of straw. I would love to know if they rolled them or carried those eggs across the yard, through a drain pipe and into the greenhouse..

Clear synopsis!

Nice article. Thanks for including pictures.

Informative and well illustrated.

Great article with good illustrations.

Thank you for writing this up and providing diagrams! I have 2 Barred Rock pullets I can barely tell apart, but only one barred rock egg has been getting laid. I can never seem to catch the one who is laying, so this is very helpful. I'll check them this evening to see which one it is!

Learned a lot by reading this short article. The illustrations were a plus.

Excellent info. I'm bookmarking this for the next time someone says they don't know who is or isn't laying. Me personally, I have silkies so don't care who isn't laying, just grateful for who is!

Very good article on how to tell if a hen is laying! I enjoyed reading it!
Great information!
Good Job!!

This is an excellent article, clearly written and laid out.

Thank you
Everything explained very well makes it easy to follow the directions and understand what you’re looking for or not looking for . Very much appreciated.

Excellent article! For years I've checked the pelvic points on my hen to determine if they were laying or how close to laying they were. There was some other methods of telling in this article that I found quite interesting. This article was an overall good read and informational.

Eggcellent article. Informative, with diagrams and puns

Thank you. My pullets should be due for laying in a short while, so this was very helpful.