I currently have 2 RIR hens which were given to me in Oct., they had just started laying about 4wks before I got them. I just got 2 more hens (an Australorp and a Buff Orp) yesterday that I'm told are about 1yr old. I was told that they had both been laying but had not laid anything in the past 2 mo. after the Australorp hatched a couple of eggs. I've been feeding my RIRs laying mash and I get beautiful eggs from them both daily. I'm wondering if the other two will start laying again or maybe they'll wait until spring. I'm in southern california so we don't have really hard winters. Any thoughts?
I live in a mild winter area, and have some friends that just got five hens, one which is molting. They had stopped laying for their previous owners, but within a week at a new, much cleaner coop with less food competition, three of them started to lay again. So I think there is a good chance you may get eggs sooner than later.