When will my girls start laying again?

[justin24]

im getting about 5-6 eggs a day out of about only 7 or 8 hens that are laying. and its been in the teens and the other night it got down to -2 degrees. i have barred rocks, light brahmas, and australorps that are laying.

 

[justin24]

Are the brahmas slow to develop

 

[Frankie Ruiz]

yes, they take around 30 weeks to start laying. one of mine started laying at about 28 weeks and another one i have is 30 weeks old and just showing signs of about to start to lay.

 

[drddconrad]

I live in Virginia and we've had temps in the low teens and below 30 during the days. Nothing for you northerners but..... Anyway I have 2 barred rocks and one australorpe who have been laying regularly until this very cold weather hit,(no extra light and average of 2 eggs per 3 hens per day) and now no eggs for the past 4 days.
My question is this; my australorpe started back singing her egg song, and even disappears for a certain amount of time in the backyard not the coop, not the nest boxes. I've looked everywhere and especially hard in the area I see her emerge from right before she sings. Do chickens not lay an egg but still sing as if they have? I believe she is the only one singing. Interestingly she began singing in the yard when the other 2 started laying their first eggs (in October) and she didn't lay for a week later. The 2 hens who started laying first took a couple of weeks before they sang the song.
Would love to hear about your thoughts on this. I'm going to stop looking for the rogue nest pretty soon; it's way too cold out and I hope it doesn't really exist.

 

[mrsc1951]

I have both Brahmas and Australorps and neither has laid since early November. Last year the Australorps laid all winter long. Brahmas molted and for the first time the Australorps molted slightly. Nothing like my other breeds who become almost naked. They each just lost a few tail feathers and some of their fuzzy butt feathers. They are almost 3 years old.

 

[mrsc1951]

My Brahmas started laying at 24 weeks to the day. And the Australorps were right there with them within a couple of days.

 

[lynnea]

Put a red heat lamp in there coop

 

[Hooligans7]

Today we received 5 eggs from 5 hens, but it wasn't always that way. One of our barred rocks, "Amelia," was the first pullet to lay in October 2012. She laid until late December 2012, then went offline, laying just one egg last year, until she laid another today. It was long and skinny.
Amelia's appearance had changed while offline: Her comb grew very large like a rooster's. The excess flesh made a fold that nearly covered one eye. We thought she was turning into a male, and of course, there were no eggs. The egg she laid a couple of months ago was blood smeared, but the long and skinny one laid today was clean. Her comb is much smaller now; not much bigger then the other hens. So we're still hopeful.
One freak thing happened last night that may or may not have been a coincidence for the 5 hens/5 eggs phenomenon. My old timer wasn't keeping good time, so I switched to a new one. It's the kind with tabs that you push down for each 15-minute increment. I set the time and the light intervals and didn't think any more about it. Then last night at 1 a.m., I saw the light from the coop (actually, a chicken tractor). I thought the new timer had malfunctioned, so I pulled the plug. Today I checked the timer and found that the tab for 1 a.m. had been pushed down — but not by me! One of the chickens must have done it. I wonder if I should have kept it that way...hmm...we'll see what happens tomorrow!