Learn how to tell if your chicken is still laying eggs with nine reliable signs—comb colour, broody behaviour, vent and pelvic checks, egg tracking, leg and feather changes, abdomen feel, and vocal cues.
If you’ve noticed fewer eggs from your hens or want to check if your chicken is still laying eggs, observing physical signs and behaviours can offer real insight.
How to tell if your chicken is still laying eggs?
Laying hens have large, bright combs and wattles, while non-layers have small, pale ones. Look for broody behaviour, check the vent for size and moisture, and isolate hens to confirm if they’re laying.
Other signs to check include the hen’s legs and feathers, pelvic spacing, abdominal appearance, and vocalisations. Healthy laying hens typically display faded leg colour and dishevelled feathers, while non-layers may have brighter legs and fuller feathers. Below are nine trusted, evidence-backed ways to assess laying activity.
1. Monitor Your Hen’s Comb and Wattles
A laying hen will have a big, red, and glossy comb and wattles, while a non-laying hen will look small and pale. The comb and wattles of a hen indicate its egg production, as they change size and colour during the oestrous cycles.
When a chicken is ready to lay eggs, more blood flows to its comb and wattles, making them fuller, brighter, and smoother. Check your hens’ combs and wattles regularly to monitor changes that may signify decreasing egg production. If your hen’s comb and wattles lose vibrancy, it may indicate reduced egg production.
Tips:
- Monitor hens daily to identify any changes more effectively.
- Maintain consistent light exposure to ensure that seasonal changes do not distort your results.
2. Watch for Broody Behaviour
A broody hen wants to sit in a nest and hatch eggs rather than lay them. Broodiness is a natural behaviour in chickens, but a broody hen won’t lay eggs, which is a problem if you want maximum egg production.
A broody hen shows signs like staying in the nesting box longer, pecking aggressively if disturbed, and making deep clucking sounds. A broody hen may also pull out her chest feathers to warm the eggs.
To prevent broody behaviour, remove the hen from the nesting box multiple times a day and return her to the flock. If broodiness continues, isolate the hen for a few days until her mothering instinct fades and she is ready to lay again.
What to do:
- Every now and then, just take the broody hen out of the nest to help break her routine.
- If she insists on sitting, it can be beneficial to isolate her briefly, as this often helps to reset her reproductive hormones.
3. Inspect Her Vent
A laying hen will have a large, moist vent that feels soft and pliable to the touch. That’s because the vent expands with increased blood flow and the estrogen levels that accompany egg production.
On the other hand, a non-laying hen will have a vent that appears small, dry, tight, and puckered. The lack of estrogen causes the tissue to constrict and look shrivelled.
Keep an eye on your hens’ vents by checking them often. It’s a good idea to do this at night when they’re settled and roosting. This way, you can easily see any changes.
4. Short‑Term Isolation Testing
To confirm laying chicken is still laying eggs, temporarily place a hen in a crate or small enclosure with food, water, and a nest box under 12–14 hours of light. If she lays an egg there, she’s still laying. If not, she might have entered a rest phase.
You can gather clues from a chicken’s appearance, but the best way to know if it lays eggs is to observe if it produces them. A short-term separation can show if your hen is still laying eggs or is ready to stop using the nest boxes.
If she lays an egg during isolation, you have your clear answer that she’s still productive. The absence of eggs during her separation suggests that she is not currently in a laying phase. Just be sure to return her to the flock afterward so the stress of isolation doesn’t impact future laying.
5. Track Actual Egg Production
Consistent egg production is the most obvious sign that a chicken is still laying eggs. On average, hens lay one egg almost daily, producing 5–6 eggs per week. This can vary by breed, age, diet, and season, but it is a good benchmark.
What to do:
A. Gather eggs multiple times per day and track output for each hen. If the frequency of laying eggs has decreased, it may indicate that your hen’s productivity is declining.
B. Be sure to account for hidden nests where hens may lay outside of the coop boxes. A hen that’s not laying will not produce any eggs at all.
If you notice that a hen isn’t laying as many eggs as she usually does, it could be a sign that something isn’t quite right with her health or productivity. The drop in egg production could indicate issues such as inadequate nutrition, stress, or age.
It’s essential to closely monitor her condition and consider potential adjustments to her diet or environment to support her health. Addressing these concerns promptly can help ensure she remains a productive member of the flock.
6. Observe the Legs and Feathers Condition
Laying hens will often have faded, pale legs because they devote nutrients towards egg production rather than rich pigment. Their feathers may also appear more dishevelled, brittle, or molted since hen bodies work hard to supply calcium for all those eggshells.
However, a non-laying hen will display brighter yellow or orange legs as nutrients get redirected away from the reproductive system. Her feathers will also tend to look fuller and sleeker with less molting.
Keep in mind that hens naturally molt annually, which temporarily suppresses laying. So it’s important to track your chickens’ molting periods versus long-term feather quality changes that can signal decreased laying.
The bottom line is a fancy, bright hen with lush feathers is directing energy away from the resources needed to lay eggs. Dull legs and messy feathers, on the other hand, are a sign your hard-working girl is pumping out eggs like a champ!
7. Check Pelvic Space
Providing enough pelvic space is essential for a laying hen to successfully lay large eggs. You can check this by feeling the space between the pelvic bones with your fingers.
If a chicken is still laying eggs, you should be able to fit two or more fingers between the bones around the vent area. This space will be narrow in a non-laying hen, allowing less than 2 fingers to fit.
As your hen gets older and her body prepares for laying eggs, her pelvic area tends to widen because of estrogen. But if you start to see that her pelvic space is getting smaller, that might be a warning sign that she’s either slowing down in laying or has stopped altogether.
8. Examine Her Abdomen
A chicken still laying eggs will have a larger, lower abdomen that appears swollen or distended, especially just before she’s about to lay an egg. On the other hand, a non-laying hen will have an abdomen that’s smaller and appears shrivelled rather than plump. Without developing eggs, the abdomen lacks fullness and appears drawn upward, closer to the pelvis rather than dangling low.
Frequently monitor your hens’ abdomens to keep track of any changes that could indicate a decrease in productivity. When the abdomen becomes smaller and less full, it is a sign that the number of eggs being produced is decreasing.
9. Listen for Vocalisations
Happy laying hens will make distinct sounds like cackling and singing after laying an egg. It’s thought these vocalizations either signal pride at laying or act to alert roosters that a hen is fertile.
If your formerly productive hen has suddenly become silent, it often means she is not laying. A lack of egg song can precede a complete halt in laying. If your vocal hen becomes silent, it likely means she has stopped laying eggs.
Case Study: My hen, Charlotte, stopped singing.
My Rhode Island Red Hen, Charlotte, always made a delightful singsong purring noise while laying her daily brown egg. But over the past two weeks, I haven’t heard Charlotte’s iconic egg song.
She’s also spent more time in the nesting box without producing anything. I checked her vent, pelvic bones, abdomen, comb, and production records and confirmed she had stopped laying. It turns out Charlotte was just entering her annual molt, which temporarily suppresses laying.
Monitoring those signs tipped me off, allowing me to adjust my expectations and management during Charlotte’s non-productive period. Her laying will pick up once her new feathers come in.
FAQ Section
Q1: What if my hen is molting—will she still lay eggs?
When hens are molting, they usually take a break from laying eggs for about 6 to 8 weeks so they can grow back their feathers. You might notice that their comb and vent look a bit dull, and their feathers might change too. Don’t worry, though—it’s all normal and just a temporary phase!
Q2: Can age alone stop laying?
Yeah, it’s pretty normal for hens to start laying fewer eggs after about 2 to 3 years. Even if they look fine, you might notice some ups and downs in how many eggs they’re producing.
Q3: Is it harmful to check combs, vents, and the pelvis often?
Remember to wash your hands well for hygiene, stay calm, and choose the right time to interact with the hens. A great time to approach them is when they are feeling relaxed, such as in the evening hours when they tend to be calmer and settled. This way, you can ensure a smoother experience for both you and the hens.
Q4: How can I prevent broodiness without harming the bird?
Every now and then, take her out of the nests, give her some cooler and brighter spots to hang out, and make sure to grab the eggs every day. This should help calm down her nesting instincts a bit.
Q5: Could stress or diet affect these signs?
Totally! Stress, bad eating habits, or being sick can really mess with your birds. They might get a little pale, take longer to lose feathers, and even stop singing their egg song. It’s a good idea to tackle any diet issues and keep their living space chill ahead of time!
Q6: Should I do these checks systematically or only when eggs drop off?
It’s really helpful to keep an eye on things regularly. Check the comb colour, vent moisture, edge spacing, feather condition, and egg count every week. This way, you can spot any slow changes that might come up.
Conclusion
Keeping track of whether your chicken is still laying eggs is super important for making smart choices about their food, living space, and overall health. Check the comb and wattles, the condition of their vents, their egg production, and the state of their feathers and legs.
Also, pay attention to how wide their pelvis is, how full their bellies feel, and any sounds they’re making. All these signs can help you know what’s going on with your flock!
Monitoring these indicators helps chicken owners manage egg production, adjust care routines, and identify hens that may stop laying eggs. Look for changes in comb and wattle appearance, broodiness, vent condition, egg output, pelvic spacing, abdomen fullness, and vocalisations.
Disclaimer:
Poultry Affairs does not intend to provide any kind of veterinary suggestion. The information provided is intended for general informational and educational purposes only. Always ask a veterinarian for help regarding your birds. We do not guarantee the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or availability of the website information.
