Do Flocks of the same breed

[rancher hicks]

Lay more eggs than mixed flocks? See I had my CM's seperate including the roo and they laid very well through the winter. They were confined 99% of the time. 4-5 eggs from 5 hens.
My Dels on the other hand were in the mixed flock and didn't lay so good, or at least I thought.
Now I have my Dels seperate and the CM's in the mixed flock.
The Dels are laying better 5-6 eggs from 6 hens, and the CM's aren't laying as well.

If the CM's aren't laying well becaue I made the switch a week ago how long should I wait before I have my answer? The Dels are definitely laying better than before.

They both seem to lay better in confinement. The Dels were allowed out in a run before (didn't lay well) and now the CM's are in the run and not laying well.

I intend to build a second run so I can rotate the flocks w/ having the run of the yard. One day let one flock out of the run to range and the next let the other flock out to range. Could it be that I have no feeder hanging in the run? Could it be the white light in the side of the coop the one flock has, as opposed to the red light in the other side? Lights go off at night.

 

[Choco Maran]

I have a group of mixed and a group of just CM's. The mixed group is about 40 strong and I get about 30 to 35 eggs a day from them. The CM are only 7 and I get 5-7 a day from them. They both have access to feed and water 24 hrs. a day. Both coops are right next to one another. The large flock has a light on during the night. So I do not think it makes a difference but could not tell you for sure.

 

[Mahonri]

Interestingly, I had a Black Star, a Cinnamon Queen, a Delaware and GC Maran that were in a 4 X 10 X 5 breeding pen without artificial light. Two weeks ago I put them in the big coop. They laid much better in the breeding pen.