The egg laying process is part of a natural cycle of reproduction. Chickens have been selected to extend this reproduction cycle to the point where the very best layers will lay over 300 eggs per year! So what is going on in today's chickens to cause such a large number of eggs and how can we manage them to achieve the best results?

Hormones

Have you ever been present when anything was born? If so you may understand that a body about to give birth is raging with hormones. These hormones signal the soft tissues to elongate and become more elastic prior to the actual birthing process. We should think of the hen as an animal that is giving birth nearly ever day for the majority of each year.

When hormone production is high in the hen, egg laying will be at peak. Some of the indicators of hormone level will be the soft tissues of the hen. Her skin will become velvety soft and elastic. Her comb will increase in size and, on many single comb breeds, will tend to lop over. Her vent will increase in size dramatically to allow eggs to pass more easily. And her ovaries will increase in size, causing the tip of her keel bone to move further away from the two pelvic bones. Thus her abdomen will be large and soft when pressed.

In the hen, the pituitary gland is the source of hormone production. This gland is stimulated by sunlight - the more hours of sun a hen receives the more hormones are produced, telling her body to prepare for egg production. To be at peak production a hen needs approximately 14 hours of light. During winter months we may extend the amount of natural daylight by adding lights with timers in our coops. It takes approximately three weeks before the extended day length results in increased egg production.

When a hen is in production, the soft tissues of the egg manufacturing organs increase in size causing the distance between the pelvic and keel bones to increase—in this case, to over four fingers deep. Notice that the vent is wide, soft, and pale in color. On this hen, using our fingers laid horizontally, the distance between pelvic and keel bones is only two fingers deep. Also, her abdomen is firm and not yet soft and pliable. She is not in production.

Body Condition

Ever heard the old axiom, "The eye of the master fattens the calf"? In four legged animals one can easily tell body condition by feeling along the spine. Since fat is deposited on either side of the spine, when an animal is thin the spine feels like sharp, high peaks. Similarly, when an animal is fat we feel a valley where the spine should be - the fat is now higher than the spine.

Studies have shown that animals in ideal breeding condition are neither fat nor thin. They should be in good body condition with a slight bit of fat. Simply put, a thin animal has no reserves. Its body needs a goodly portion of what it consumes. A fat animal is in a stage of storing nutrients for future use. But an animal that has a small amount of fat is able to put a greater percentage of the nutrients it consumes into its production—it is in ideal condition for reproductive health.

A hen in good laying condition cannot be fat, she need not be too thin either; what we want is good condition a bit closer to thin than to fat. On four legged animals the spine would feel like soft, rounded hills. But how can we tell condition on poultry? Since poultry lay fat on differently than four legged animals, we have to look elsewhere as the spine is not the indicator we need. On poultry we need only examine the pelvic bones as indicators of body condition.

The pelvic bones are located just below the vent. This hen has a wide, pale vent, with pelvic bones well separated—indicating she is in good production.   This is an excellent example of a very fat hen. Notice her vent is small and very yellow, she is storing her food and not utilizing it. The distance between my thumb and forefinger indicates the amount of fat around one of her pelvic bones—well over a half inch thick!   Measuring the fat on the same hen as above after five weeks of adjusting her diet by removing corn, adding oats, and adding a small amount of apple cider vinegar to her drinking water. Notice the fat is only about 3/8" thick, the skin is now pale, and her vent has increased in size—she has begun egg production.

Measuring Condition

The pelvic bones can be found by feeling the abdomen just below the vent of the hen. They feel like two parallel bumps. If you pinch at the point where one pelvic bone protrudes you can get a feel for thickness. You should be pinching on the left and right sides of the bone, not the top and bottom.

What you are feeling is skin, gristle, fat, and bone. A hen that is too fat will have a lump of fat coating this area that feels a solid half-inch thick or even more! A hen very thin will have pelvic bones that feel 1/16" thick or less. A hen in ideal condition will have pelvic bones that feel about 1/8" to 1/4" thick.

Since we want our poultry in top condition for production of eggs, and since we cannot see body condition as the feathers obscure the actual body, every good poultryman or poultrywoman should handle their hens from time to time. Check the body condition by feeling the pelvic bones. You can also have fun with your friends by catching a fat hen and a thin hen and challenge them to guess which hen is fattest!

Diet

Feed manufacturers sell us what they consider complete rations. These feeds have been formulated to contain all the ingredients necessary to sustain the bird for the purpose designed—i.e., layer feeds are formulated for maximum egg production. But we often forget two very important points: First, that this is America and our business philosophy is to provide exactly what is needed and not waste money on extras. Second, that we backyard poultry enthusiasts provide our chickens with access to outdoors - our chickens are not caged in a building depending on one source of food for all of their nutrition.

Given the opportunity, a hen will balance her diet naturally. Much as a woman has cravings during pregnancy, a biological process that naturally attracts her to consume nutrients needed that can be found in large quantities in some foodstuffs, a hen that has had too much of one nutrient will tend to consume another. For instance, a hen that has eaten a large number of insects, high in protein and amino acids, will tend to begin consuming more grasses and green stuffs.

Many of us supplement our chickens with some grains, especially during winter. We should keep in mind what these grains do and what effect they are having on our flock. Corn is the great fattening grain. It supplies a large amount of betacaratine to make yolks orange (as well as beaks and legs in yellow legged breeds). Too much corn, fat the hen does make! Oats supply calcium and are great for growth of tender muscle and egg production. Too much oats though and the yolks get pale in color. Wheat is another great poultry grain. Wheat is good as it encourages heat production and it provides oil for the feathers to help resist weather. Too much wheat can fatten a hen, though it is rare that a hen eats too much wheat. Rye provides some wonderful vitamins, but too much rye will cause loose, dark colored stools. Sunflower seeds and peanuts are good for poultry too. But though both are high in protein they are also high in fat. So it is recommended to feed sunflower seeds and peanuts (usually crushed) selectively so as not to over fatten hens.

Our hens on range do need a good base ration, but they will selectively draw on it as a part of their whole diet. Providing some grains can be good as long as we keep in mind their effects. Providing simple things like access to oyster shell, grit, and a poultry mineral will greatly help our hens balance their diet.

Water

The contents of an egg are visibly wet. Simply put, a hen needs to drink enough water to produce an egg and to account for the amount of moisture her body has lost during the day. (Remember, our skin gets dry in the winter and so does the hen's.)

If our hens only have a small period in which their water is not frozen, then we are less likely to see any eggs. Working to water more frequently or using a heater to keep the water fresh will help egg production greatly.

One quick thought - water containers should be kept clean and the water fresh. This will provide good-tasting water and our hens will drink much more. One method for keeping the water container clean is to add apple cider vinegar to the water at a rate of one tablespoon per gallon. This changes the pH balance of the water and discourages algae and bacteria. If you use a raw cider (has sediment or "mother") the birds will be getting a nice supplement as well.

Observing the comb and wattles of your hens is a clue to determining which are in good laying production. The hen on the left has a small amount of hormones coursing through her body. Her comb is small and her wattles have just started to soften and elongate. The hen on the right is in full production. The hormones have caused her comb to enlarge and lop and her wattles to elongate. Her comb and wattles are also soft and pliable to the touch.

Putting Fat Hens on a Diet

If we check ours hens and find them too fat, we simply need to adjust our management to get them into egg laying condition. First, let's adjust diet - stop feeding scratch feed to encourage them to eat more of the base layer ration. Provide some oats in the litter to encourage them to scratch (exercise), to give them a treat (reduce boredom), and to help stimulate egg production. And be sure they have access to fresh, clean, unfrozen water daily.

Next, we increase their exercise level. We extend the day length by adding lights on a timer set to extend the morning hours (that way they roost properly at night). This encourages them to get up earlier and to move around more. We give them a late day feeding of oats (as mentioned above) in their litter, which gives them exercise and helps turn the bedding. Finally, we encourage them to venture outside to roam more. We can place feeders and waterers a little farther away each morning and they will naturally venture farther.

Additionally, we can add thinning supplements. Apple cider in the drinking water has the effect to help slim our hens. Leafy greens are bulky, so while providing some good nutrients they also help a hen feel full sooner.

By examining our hens we can understand what they need, and what we need to do, in order to produce more eggs. So pick up your hens and check to see if they are too fat. But let's not condemn the fat hen too quickly, as we are the "master" that fattened her!

Text © Don Schrider, 2010. All rights reserved.

Don Schrider is a nationally recognized poultry breeder and expert. He has written for publications such as Backyard Poultry, Countryside and Small Stock Journal, Mother Earth News, Poultry Press, and the newsletter and poultry resources of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. To visit the online poultry resources of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, visit: www.albc-usa.org/EducationalResources/chickens.html.