Chickens do not lay as much in Winter as the days are shorter - it is controlled by the, length of the day or if they are molting... yes, they tend to molt in Autumn/Winter so they are all pretty for Spring...

I feed 'flock raiser' because I have a rooster, and the extra calcium for the shells is not good for him, I put oyster shell down separately.

I have 6 laying hens, a broody, and a rooster and I am getting an egg from each layer every 2nd day which is average.

Chickens have a set number of ova, and 3 years is about their production life. Some chickens lay an egg a day, my Black Sex Link did, until a coyote got her. 😔 others lay every second day. My 6 layers are not a year yet, so I am thinking production with increase this Spring. I intend to breed them 2024.

The broody, is an Australorp she has never laid a single egg.

Chickens are not machines, they have quirks, just like people.

wwwbackyardchickens.com

This is a really good resource

I learned the same thing about shorter days in the winter and older gals not laying. Howevr, I recently changed their food to some with higher protein and my 6 year old girl is laying eggs in winter with no extra light. She dies not lay as many as the younger ones but she has laid 6 in the past 3 weeks and only laid one this year before the food change.