Old birds, new birds, eggs?

Yes, we do have new chickens, but before I can post about them I must tell you that we are without two of our original five chickens. The first to go was Little Maggie. The smallest of the Silver Phoenix chickens, Little Maggie became sick one day and died the next. I could tell she was sick because while the birds were all out free ranging in the yard she walked up to me and stood between my legs and let me pick her up without running off - I thought, "that's odd." Her eyes were glazed and she had a dull, detached look about her. The next day she was found lying still in the coop. Fortunately none of the other birds caught whatever it was she had. Actually it is more likely that whatever took her was not contagious. I've read that chickens may die suddenly for no apparent reason and Little Maggie seemed to do just that.

Coco's cause of death was quite clear when I found her but the culprit behind the deed is still a mystery. We had been letting the birds free range in the yard while we were home and I was doing just that one afternoon in October. I needed to get ready to catch a flight and thought I should go out and check on the birds. I didn't see them when I initially went outside, then I walked around the side of the house and there was what was left of Coco. Whatever got her had ripped most of her head off and had eaten a good bit of her back. Still don't know what got her. This all happened in broad daylight, next to the house, while I was at home, and I didn't hear a thing. Whatever it was left no evidence to suggest what it was. No footprints, no non-chicken feathers, nothing. I figure it was probably a hawk. We have them flying around frequently and Coco was big enough that a hawk would have trouble flying off with her. Seems like anything else that was really interested in eating her would have taken her off somewhere.

So that was the end of Coco. I was more PO'd that something got one of our birds than I was sad/upset. They are chickens after all - other creatures like to eat them as much as we do.

So, on to the new chickens. We actually got these before we lost Coco. They are three Silver-laced Wyandottes. I call them the Three Amigos (as in Chevy, Steve, and Martin). Here they are with Coco - the way she used to be.

Found these gals through an ad on Craig's list. They were reported to be about 15 weeks old when we got them. They were almost full grown but hadn't started laying yet - perfect! I think we got a good deal on them at $7 each. Unfortunately they still haven't started laying. In fact we have had no eggs from any bird since September 16th. I'm not really sure what's going on. All the older birds have molted and have a fresh set of feathers - they actually look very good. But no eggs! Last fall/winter we got at least an egg or two every now and then. I'm assuming the lack of production is due to the shorter day length so I've put a light in the coop and have it on a timer so that it's on from 4:30 am to 7:30 am and 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. I just started that last week - hopefully it makes a difference. My hunch is once the new birds laying we're gonna be in egg city.