[spiderchick]

 hi i have only joined today, i am new to having chickens and had these four sweeties before Christmas of my friend. one was laying then just after Christmas we had no more eggs and have had no more since. they have a large coop and we built a run around it so they have plenty of room. i feed them in the morning and at teatime( which is what my friend had been doing) they always have fresh water and when myself and the kids are out they have free run of the garden. i am not sure if i am doing something wrong, my daughters grandad has some hens and they have carried on laying through the winter. they have been hand reared and are very friendly and rule the garden the dog and cats!!! please could someone give me a few tips
many thanks

[RGManby]

Depends what your feeding them more as to when!
What breed are they?
Have they got grit?
Most hens don't lay all year around, that is normal, they have periods of moult, feathers in the run indicates this one.
Try a bit of poultry spice (read the instructions first), a tin of sardines or tuna is very good for getting newly moved birds back on track, not every day though, maybe once a fortnight.

EDIT : any tins of sardines or tuna fed to chickens please make sure its in sunflower oil!

[shiatsusu]

Could be the low light levels of winter. Wait and see what happens when spring arrives properly 

[treacleminer]

What type of hens are they?  Pure breeds seem to lay less during the winter than the hybrids which are bred as egg layers - or at least thats what I've found!

It will also depend on age etc.

[spiderchick]

many thanks for the advice.
unfortunatley we lost one of our hens over the weekend so we have all be a bit subdued.
i will try the tuna/sardines, we always have some.
i feed them corn in the morning and they have layers mash about teatime, i always give them fresh water every day and they have a bowl of grit which is fresh most days.at night i make sure they have water in the coop. i think they are about two years old and have been told that two of them are warrens.
they have been a bit quiet over the last couple of days due to roadrunner dying but have been in with them and given them plenty of fuss!!
would like to get a couple more but am worried about how they will react( only have room in the coop for six, but they have plenty of room outside).
many thanks again for the replies 

[Vember]

Hi Spiderchick

Try swapping the feed round, give them the layers in the morning and only a small amount of corn at night about an hour before bed

Another thing to check is round their vents for any lice these can sometimes stop birds form laying:)

sarah