Three hens, two not laying, time for new ones?

[ChickenHack]

Hi, my family has three hens which are pets cum egg-layers, but two of them aren't laying much (they're always clucky) and aren't all that friendly. I'm told they're bantam white sussexes and they're about 18 mths old.

Our third chook is a black australorpe and is the head-hen, lays well and is good-natured. The three of them have been together since they were chicks, but I'm considering getting rid of the white ones and getting two new ones.

What's the best way to do this? Get rid of the white ones first and then introduce the new two or introduce the new ones and then cull the old ones? How long should I leave in between? Thank you!

 

[Gayleyy]

I would look more into why they are not laying before I culled them and got more. At 18 months they should be laying just fine. There are many reasons they will "slack of" on laying, illness, parasites, etc. A hen usually will not lay when she is molting, could that be going on?

 

[ChickenHack]

Thanks for the advice. They did have mites/lice a few weeks ago, but we got rid of them thankfully (horrible little things!). The two hens only lay one egg between them every couple of days. I've been told that they're just a clucky breed and they just want to sit on eggs. They were moulting when they had lice, but they're fine now. It is autumn here, so I understand they lay less in the colder months, but they've never been great layers. I could keep them and just get a couple of new ones, but then I've still got to deal with the 'cluckyness' every few weeks...