]Does the day length change that much in Florida. Well somewhat. Sunset seems to be around 6-6:30 whereas in the summer its around 8-830. The girls seem to head back to the coop around 5:30 and in the summer they stay out til at least 7:30.
I have been talking to my children about the animal husbandry aspects of chicken keeping ... And the processing. I think it will be easier after this first round. I have found a man who will come teach us. He charges a small fee and we will watch him this time. Then maybe the next go round he can come and walk us through it ourselves.
As for their age, we got them as day old chicks in early April 2013, they were laying by mid-late August of '13. So yes this is their 3rd laying season. Usually we did not see this dramatic of a reduction in the winter. I think we stayed at a steady 7-9 eggs last year in the winter and 9-11 eggs most days in the summer. My EEs seem to stop in the winter but the rest kept going. Right now my Leghorns are the only consistent ones. I get a brown egg every other day or so but I'm not sure which hen its from. I sure miss all the eggs and now we hardly have enough for ourselves much less for my friends who used to buy from me.