Do you mean they were new baby chicks this past spring? In that case they might not all be mature
enough to start laying.....it takes about five months. In addition, laying diminishes with daylength, and mature birds will often molt in the fall, and quit laying for several weeks. So i would give them till early next spring to really get into gear.
Distinguishing a laying bird from a nonlayer takes some practice. If you, or perhaps some observant kids, are around the birds a lot, you or they (when I've lived around kids they would give each bird a name and would know exactly which one laid which egg and when!), you can see them go into the nests, and cackle, and then come out from off of a new egg. Perhaps you can mark these birds.
Hens that are regularly laying will have a slightly disheveled appearance compared to nonlayers....the comb will not be as bright or perky. On breeds with light colored legs, the legs will be whitish, rather than yellow (the yellow pigment all goes into the egg yolks). If you pick up the birds, you can easily fit two fingers, sometimes three, between the pelvic bones, which spread out to allow the passage of eggs. On chronic non-layers these bones close together so it's difficult or impossible to fit two fingers between them....
