[azubah]

Do you have any experience of goldline hens?

My two are 2 years old and have laid 7 eggs between them since Christmas. Is this normal and will they start laying again? They used to lay an egg every day without fail last year. They are happy and healthy enough, fed on layers pellets as much as they can eat, and earn their living by weeding the garden and disposing of slugs and bugs.

Thanks for any hen stories you may have.

[GrannieAnnie]

You usually find the Goldlnes will still lay quite well during their 2nd winter.  Some of mine have just finished their 3rd winter, where they were rather patchy layers. 

But I tend to hear more from the people who have had Babcocks or amberlinks from me.

A chap who came to see us from Derbyshire reckoned the Goldlines don't stand up well to the winter up in Derbyshire and he lost quite a few (not that he'd bought from me though!) over the winter.

[azubah]

Thanks for your reply Grannie.

Winter this year has been harder than of late, and to add to that, we live in an area where the housing is old, and there have been a lot of renovations going on, which involves a lot of noise with hammering and machinery, and to make matters worse, next doors have just got 3 dogs which bark all the time.
I often jump when I hear a thud and I have seen the poor hens do the same. They are out in it 24 hours per day. Perhaps that is the reason for the lack of eggs.
They did spend most of their winter in the greenhouse, which kept them out of the wind and was very warm when the sun was out.