How to tell if your hens are laying well

Hi all,

Was looking for good info and came across these two great articles. Thought you would also find them useful, given the time of year for culling...

http://www2.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Factsheets/Evaluating_egg_laying_hens.pdf

http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/ALBCchicken_assessment-2.pdf

Interesting. Now to figure out how to catch the boogers and test them  

Do it at night with a flashlight.

They roost 14 plus feet up in the rafters of the barn. Well protected from predators and me...
At some point I will finish the pens and runs in the barn, then I will use this to access the keepers.

Oh, you don't clip wings, huh? 

No, the chickens here nearly all free range, and manage themselves. It would be nice to eventually get them into enclosures though. Having to protect all the fruit bushes and gardens gets a bit annoying. Plus it would be easier to medicate and treat any parasites the birds pick up.
Even if they had their wings clipped, they could probably climb up into the rafters. They use the dividing walls to get up there now.
Thanks for the information though. It will definitely help with determining a bird's worth for egg production.

Thank you for this...great information
We have gone from 17 eggs from 19 layers down to 7-9 eggs a day. We have been introducing new birds to the flock as they are getting older and can join the group and i think everyone is stressed. We just opened up the whole chicken house yesterday, and have allowed Aunt Ruth out with her 12 babies at 5 weeks of age. Hopefully everything will settle down now and the hens will get back to business.

I've noticed a drop in production from the older gals with the days getting shorter.