Also, hens can get in the bad habit of eating eggs, so you have to rule that out if you are seeing low production.
I have found, with hatching my own birds, that if they hatch from April to August, you wont see as much production right off the bat as if they were hatched in Dec- March. The reason, I think, is because chicks hatched later in the spring are reaching laying age when the days are getting the shortest. Pullets hatched earlier in the year reach laying age when the days are still long, and seem to lay much better. They all seem to catch up the following year.
I have found, with hatching my own birds, that if they hatch from April to August, you wont see as much production right off the bat as if they were hatched in Dec- March. The reason, I think, is because chicks hatched later in the spring are reaching laying age when the days are getting the shortest. Pullets hatched earlier in the year reach laying age when the days are still long, and seem to lay much better. They all seem to catch up the following year.