Laying Needs

[pieta23]

Hello Everyone. First of all, my concern is not that my new chickens aren't laying yet. I'm impatiently being patient for them to start. Here's my question:

I put 5 spring laying hens with 4 of my older hens from last year. I have seen several smaller eggs, so I know at least some of them have laid eggs. As of late, there have been no small eggs for some time ( a week or more ). I live in the north, way north than most of you. Here's it's already -25C this morning, which translates into extreme cold for some of you southern folks. Also, our daylight is down to about 9 hours already. My question is this, what could cause the new hens to ( seemingly ) quit laying?

This morning, I had an idea. Both feed ( good layer ration ) and fresh water are located in the hen house, and I'm wondering if the old hens and one rooster are blocking the new hens from accessing them. Today I put another container of food outside where thye would all have access, but fresh water in these temperatures is not possible anywhere but the one location. They do have access to snow outside if they choose.

So long story short, does anyone have any other ideas I could try to ensure the new hens have what they need to lay eggs?

 

[fried green eggs]

Shorter daylight hours will cause hens to stop laying. They need somewhere between 12-14 hours of light. It you could add a light on a timer to give added hours needed your hens may start laying again but, may take a week or so for them to get re-regulated. Extreme cold also requires they save some energy to stay warm and will slow production. Good Luck and try to stay warm.