New to Chickens

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Ah yes, I am familiar with the woes of expecting eggs from pullets. My first girls were only 4 months old when they all started laying, egg-cellent! My newest girls hatched last May and only 1 is laying so far, and they're 8 months old, not so great. :confused:
Depending how old your older hens are, I don't think I would expect much from them until around March. Usually, first year pullets will lay all through their first winter (my first ones did) but eventually they'll slow and stop completely over successive winters... daylight and molting are key factors in deciding that. There are a ton of opinions on how to keep birds laying all through winter, but it needs to be planned and a supplemental lighting schedule started in the fall.

Once those hens start laying again, you'll be swimming in eggs. Do you plan to sell some? Especially if new chicks are in your future... just give them time, they'll start earning their keep. You can integrate chicks as early as 4 weeks old if done properly...
Integrating at 4 weeks old
You Certainly Can Brood Chicks Outdoors

Best wishes with your flock!
 
:welcome

Sorry for the losses, do you know what happened to them? Maybe we can offer some tips to keep that from happening.

Best of luck to you, it's nice to have you here!

Our dog got one, we moved them out of the dogs reach. We believe a hawk got another one, so we put up netting over the temporary pen. My husband thinks a chicken snake tried to get one and couldn’t get it down, we moved them to the big coop. Those were all in the first few months we had them. Most recently we found one of our laying hens (we only had 3) dead by the pond. Not sure what got her. They free range during the day.
 
Our dog got one, we moved them out of the dogs reach. We believe a hawk got another one, so we put up netting over the temporary pen. My husband thinks a chicken snake tried to get one and couldn’t get it down, we moved them to the big coop. Those were all in the first few months we had them. Most recently we found one of our laying hens (we only had 3) dead by the pond. Not sure what got her. They free range during the day.

Predator losses...definitely a downside to free ranging. Glad you put a cover over the pen (guessing that's your run?). Sorry for your losses.
 
We recently purchased 25 acres and moved from the city to the country. In August we purchased 10 babies from Tractor Supply, 4 have been killed, 2 ended up to be roosters, 2 started laying a little over a month ago and 2 are not doing anything. I purchased 10 older hens from a friend a week ago. So we have 16 birds and getting 2 eggs a day! I plan on purchasing more babies in the spring.
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Hi and welcome to our community. I hope that you enjoy your time here.

This is a useful link of BYC guides to take a look at announcements-feedback-issues-guides.3 I’d suggest including your location using the guide in that link. You can use this link to contact members in your area - Find your State's thread.

Best wishes

Pork Pie
 

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