By the time they've all stopped laying it will be difficult to determine which ones were the egg producers over summer. They will soon all be in a moult and look pretty grotty.
I can sympathise with both of you, having one year hatched out a lot of eggs and ending up with loads of young cockerels. They were pretty, and I enjoyed seeing them wondering about, but the feed bills were getting rediculous. In the end I got my stepson to shoot them. It was quick and painless. I didn't feel like eating them either, which seemed a waste. But they'd had a good free range life and their end was humane. And my feed bills were enormously reduced. Just throw the bodies away if you haven't a use for them. Or bury them reverently, but for heavens sake don't feed them for ever because yo feel guilty on that score.
So, my suggestion would be to compromise with your wife and cull at least half. You can tell which ones are still laying by looking at their vents (where the egg comes out.) The ones in lay will have a much bigger aperture than the others, so put them on one side for keeping. Also, you must have some idea which ones never had a really red comb in summer - these want to be culled. then also choose those which have the longest spurs on their legs as they will be the oldest. That should give you some idea which to dispose of.
Of the ones you keep - they will be going into a moult now. Feed them well - and by that I mean a proper feed of at least 16% protein, It takes a lot of protein to produce new feathers and if you feed them properly they will be back in lay sooner. Also, if you start to give them artificial light at the beginning of Dec, increasing by a few minutes each day, then they will also start to lay sooner.
Finally - you say you were only getting about 10 eggs from about 45 birds. Are you sure you were feeding them enough? It is false economy to economise on food. They need more or less ad lib or else they may only get enough for their maintenance, and not sufficient over that to produce eggs.