I don’t know how many are closer to 1-1/2 and how many are close to 5, but when they get to be 4 or 5 years old they usually don’t lay a lot. They’ll lay some, but often not much.
There is a real good chance they are waiting for spring to start laying. Adding a couple of hours of light to their schedule could help kickstart their laying. It doesn’t take much. If you can read a newspaper in the amount of light you are using, you are using plenty. It takes them a little while when you add lights to get their bodies into egg laying mode. If they are already in that process it may not take very long before you see results but if they haven’t started getting ready it can take a few weeks. Be patient if you don’t see instantaneous results. It may take a couple of weeks.
Some hens are fast molters and some are slow molters. If you haven’t added lights top keep them from molting, at the age yours are they will all go through a molt when the days get shorter. They don’t all start the molt at the same time and they each can take a different amount of time, from less than 2 months to more than 5 months. The difference in slow molters and fast molters is not how fast they grow their feathers back, it’s how fast they lose them. Some slow molters can lose their feathers so slowly you can’t tell they are in a molt, though you should occasionally see a few feathers around.
It’s possible they are hiding a nest. If you can, lock them up for a few days like Donrae said to see if they are actually laying. Since you consistently get one white egg, it’s highly unlikely anything is getting them. When most critters are getting the eggs, it’s pretty erratic. Some days you get some and some days you get none. Even if it is your pet dog getting them it should not ignore the one white egg and just eat the brown or colored.
I don’t provide artificial lights. Some of mine start laying when they finish the molt even if that is still in December. Some of mine wait for spring to start laying again even if they have finished the molt. They are all unique.
Since yours were laying into December I’d guess you have some slow molters that started late. I’d think some of yours are getting old enough you can’t expect many eggs from them. And some may be waiting on spring. Often it’s a combination of things. Good luck!
There is a real good chance they are waiting for spring to start laying. Adding a couple of hours of light to their schedule could help kickstart their laying. It doesn’t take much. If you can read a newspaper in the amount of light you are using, you are using plenty. It takes them a little while when you add lights to get their bodies into egg laying mode. If they are already in that process it may not take very long before you see results but if they haven’t started getting ready it can take a few weeks. Be patient if you don’t see instantaneous results. It may take a couple of weeks.
Some hens are fast molters and some are slow molters. If you haven’t added lights top keep them from molting, at the age yours are they will all go through a molt when the days get shorter. They don’t all start the molt at the same time and they each can take a different amount of time, from less than 2 months to more than 5 months. The difference in slow molters and fast molters is not how fast they grow their feathers back, it’s how fast they lose them. Some slow molters can lose their feathers so slowly you can’t tell they are in a molt, though you should occasionally see a few feathers around.
It’s possible they are hiding a nest. If you can, lock them up for a few days like Donrae said to see if they are actually laying. Since you consistently get one white egg, it’s highly unlikely anything is getting them. When most critters are getting the eggs, it’s pretty erratic. Some days you get some and some days you get none. Even if it is your pet dog getting them it should not ignore the one white egg and just eat the brown or colored.
I don’t provide artificial lights. Some of mine start laying when they finish the molt even if that is still in December. Some of mine wait for spring to start laying again even if they have finished the molt. They are all unique.
Since yours were laying into December I’d guess you have some slow molters that started late. I’d think some of yours are getting old enough you can’t expect many eggs from them. And some may be waiting on spring. Often it’s a combination of things. Good luck!
