Only one hen laying so far

[TLove99]

I've got eight hens and so far I'm pretty sure only one of them is laying. I have two Dominiques and two RIRs. They are 6 months old. I also have four Dorkings who are about three or four weeks younger.
I'm pretty sure none of the Dorkings are laying yet so they are out.

Here is the girl I think is laying, take a look at that comb, nice and big and red.

Here is the other dominique. They are the same age, I got them together.

Sorry for the poor quality, she is very timid and I had to get the shot from far away by zooming in. Her comb isn't developed much at all. Why such a big difference? I understand they are individuals but the one has been laying for weeks now (I'm assuming it's her).
My RIRs have good sized combs but aren't that nice red color. I think some of the chickens may be molting too because there are feathers everywhere. I'm not really sure what a normal amount of feathers laying around is though, it's my first year with chickens.
Here's a dorking just so they don't feel left out.

Is there any hope of getting more than one egg every other day out of my eight hens!? This is getting real old. It's going to be winter soon and they are going to slow down or stop altogether anyway.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Is there any hope of getting more than one egg every other day out of my eight hens!? This is getting real old. It's going to be winter soon and they are going to slow down or stop altogether anyway.

Yes, there is absolutely hope - how many weeks are they (weeks rather than months can be helpful on issues such as this as there can be a few weeks +/- in what one person considers "6 months" and what the next thinks the same is).
Since these are all pullets and will be in their first laying cycle you they will quite likely continue to lay through this winter - that "lay off" is generally an issue in subsequent laying cycles as the birds molt at a point that coincides with the shortening of daylight yours so that by the time they come out of molt there is not sufficient light to trigger the start of a new laying cycle until the following spring. These birds will not molt until next fall, so that second winter is the one where you are likely to see a significant impact on production.

 

[jas humbert]

Patience. It will happen. I got 6 new pullets this year born April 1. The silver laced wyanadotte layed her first egg September 1 at exactly 5 months old. The gold laced wyandotte layed her first egg today- nearly 3 weeks later- after a good deal of fussing and the silver lace hogging her nest box for over an hour and refusing to let the gold laced on it. (I've got 6 nest boxes - three on each side of the main coop but of course they both wanted to the same one at the same time.) So now I've got two layers out of this bunch. I knew the gold laced was close because she's been squatting when I tried to pet her for the last 10 days or so. The austalop and the welsummer are not squatting and they finished molting a couple of weeks later than the wyandottes so I expect I've got at least a couple of weeks to go. I wasn't counting on anything under 6 months so I'm happy. I expect the polish will be mid to late October. When you see a reduction in the amount of feathers on the ground you are finishing up molting and probably have only a few weeks until they start laying. See who is still dropping feathers based on colors. First they finish molting, then they start squatting, then they start laying. I don't know much about comb diffrences but I've had chickens of the same breed that have larger or smaller combs than each other as adults. Or she may not be maturing as fast which would be my best guess. I had really red combs at least a month or more before they started laying.

You are in Virginia? I'm in Tennessee and based on my past experience we are far enough south that winters aren't going to be that bad for egg production. They slow some but last winter every hen I had still layed at least some all winter- maybe 3-4 eggs a week per hen instead of 6 or 7. Only two or three really bad cold weeks I did not get at least that. I expect your hens will be laying by sometime in October -maybe November for the youngest- and you'll get at least some eggs through the winter and by spring your RIRs and Dominiques will be laying machines. By May you will be wondering what to do with all the eggs. Good luck!

 

[TLove99]

I'll have to check my calendar at home for the weekly age. I'm at work right now (shhh) As near as I can remember They are 27ish weeks old. I know they hatched in March, I think it was mid March. The Dorkings were about three or four weeks later.
I am in Virginia, kinda upper central Virginia. It gets cold sometimes but it never stays that way for very long. last time I whined on the forum about them not laying at all I started getting an egg or two, maybe I'll go home in the morning to three eggs!
I did get two eggs once so I must have two layers but now I think they are on opposite days because I only ever get one a day or every other day. Their eggs are slightly different in color. I've read that dorking eggs are cream colored and the ones I've gotten so far are all brown or tan.
Thanks for the encouragement. I won't give them their pink slips quite yet.