Not Laying -brahmas and bantam cochins

[Murielfarms]

Hi everyone. I hatched 1 Easter Egger and 4 brahma hens around April 16, and 3 bantam cochins a few weeks later but no one is laying yet. They're all between 27-30 weeks old now and not a single egg. I'm feeding them layer feed and occasional veggie/fruit scraps. They have fresh water daily and access to tons of outside time. It's starting to get dark very early here so I have put a light in the coop from 4pm-8pm every evening to extend the light for them a bit. I don't know what else to do, or what could be wrong with them. We have 2 roosters but they don't seem to bother the hens much. They did have a lice infestation a few weeks ago (after my husband brought home a couple of old, non-laying hens (without isolating them first- trust me I've given him heck), so I treated all of them thoroughly and cleaned the coop, and recently re-treated them just to make sure and am not seeing any further signs of lice. I'm just wondering what might be wrong or if anyone else has had a similar experience of no one laying after 26 weeks?
Thanks so much.

 

[KerriChick]

Brahmas can take forever. Mine is about the same age as yours and no eggs yet, but her vent says she should be ready! My Sussex is the same age and not laying either, which is more concerning. Of my 5 same age pullets only 2 are laying and my EE just slowed down. Winter for us is always just a crapshoot for eggs, but they always start up in spring! Brahmas are supposed to be winter layers but my 2 1/2 yr. old has taken forever to molt in the fall and then it is spring before she lays again. I am thinking about adding oregano and hot pepper to their feed-I have heard that can help stimulate production and also help with sickness in the winter months. (chickens can't taste hot!)

 

[ShannaES]

My Dark Brahma is 39 weeks and still isn't laying (likewise with my 34 wk old Barnevelder and Welsummer. I had my fingers crossed since I'm in So Cal and we still have a good portion of sunlight hours but they might feel that my impulse control needs some work.

 

[rosemarythyme]

With the short daylight hours and the fact that these aren't production birds, it's possible they won't start laying until spring.

Not sure if supplemental light works on birds that haven't yet started laying.

Personally for the time being I wouldn't be feeding them layer, as they aren't laying.