my chickens are not laying :(

[clairegareth]

I have 5 chickens,,,3 of which we had at same time and 2 a few days later,,,only 1 is laying everyday and the others although combs are very red there not laying,, we also have concerns 1 is a rooster even though he doesnt crow,,,they free range and have eveything they need,,,could it be the others are a lot younger thanks

 

[Judy]

It sounds like you just bought them? You can't really tell a chicken's age once they are mature. It's possible they were sold at the end of their heaviest laying, and / or about to enter their first big molt. It would be common this time of year; mine just started a week or so ago. It would be pretty odd for a single rooster not to crow. Usually if one doesn't, or doesn't much, it is because he is not the dominant rooster in the flock. Many chickens lay less or stop during winter, too. It's possible that you will have all the eggs you need in spring, or maybe even in two or three months if they are molting, and someone didn't want to feed them through a nother winter.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/423023/why-arent-my-chickens-laying-here-are-your-answers/0_20

 

[clairegareth]

We have had them around 4 months and were 14 weeks when we had them so would say 6 months or more now,,,,I know they lay less in winter and the 1 only started laying around 3 weeks ago was hoping the others caught up by now ,,,the one which is like a rooster has the pointy feathers around neck and tail but wattles are not big enough neither is the comb ???

 

[tadpole98]

you sure they are old enough to lay and that they are hens? You can share pics and well tell you for sure. Anyways, around this time of year they arent getting enough daylight hours so you will need to hook up a light in their coop for a few hours at night. I like mine to come on around 5 in the morning and go off when they sun comes up. Food- they need free feed, free clean water. make sure this is layer feed, not scratch. Layer feed has the protein they need to lay.

 

[clairegareth]

Yea pretty sure all of them bar one are hens, ,they are all on layers now I was assuming they should just be coming into lay now but can never tell