“I am a first time chicken farmer and appreciate the advice I’ve been receiving in your newsletter. I’ve noticed that the color of my hens beaks seem to be getting lighter. They seem to be fine otherwise, they are eating and drinking and giving lots of eggs. They’ve been laying for a few months now. Should I be concerned?” ~ Charlotte McKenzie
Hi Charlotte,
Thanks for the question.
I am unaware of any illnesses in which fading color in the beak is a symptom.
I think your hens are just fine since you said that they are eating, drinking and laying.
I believe what you are seeing is just a normal “bleaching” that happens as a result of laying.
Before a hen starts to lay, she will have all of her yellow coloring.
After she has been laying for a couple of weeks, she will loose her coloring around her vent, eyes and ear lobes.
After a couple of months of production her beak will loose it’s coloring also. This is consistent with your timeline for your hens.
She will loose her coloring in her shanks, feet, toes and nails after she has been laying for 6 months.
When she stops laying, either for a molt or at the end of her productive life, the yellow color will come back in the same order it had previously faded.
Charlotte, check to see if you can see bleaching around their vents, eyes and earlobes, if so I don’t think there is anything to worry about.
You can expect to see the bleaching progress down their legs in the coming months.
Thanks again Charlotte for the question.
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