Do chickens lay eggs in the winter?

[newtochickening]

We got some chicks in September, and some breeds were estimated to start laying now (i.e. ISA Brown). Are they not laying because it's too cold? Anything we can do to support them?

 

[HappyDuckie]

Most chickens won’t lay in the winter. Yours should start up in the spring. It’s not because of the cold, it’s because of how many hours of daylight there are. Hope this helps.

 

[CluckerFamily]

Chickens will stop laying because the days are shorter with daylight.
Some pullets start laying in winter but others wait until spring.
Some people add light to the coop to make up for the lost daylight.

 

[Mvan42]

They should still lay give them time. Shorter days do cause them to slow but ever new layer I have had has laid eggs even in the winter.

 

[WallyG74]

My July chicks are just now starting to lay good. Winter and molting did stop my older girls for a while. All of them are starting to get in the egg laying groove.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Add light. If pullets are not laying by the solstice there is a chance they won't lay until spring. To counter that and for hen winter production you supplement light. Have the light on timer turn on in coop earlier than sunrise and turn off after you let them out in morning. If you total 12 hours of "daylight" they'll start laying in week or two. You can pull the light beginning of March, the Equinox is March 20th.

By light I mean a led in cool or warm white that produces 1000+ lumens in a medium sized coop. If a small 4x4 coop then a wee 9w led is more than enough- 800 lumens. Just remember to double secure any plug in light with wire. Don't rely on the clamp. Coop fires do happen.

Edit- dubbing around and found this instead of screw in lightbulb- right spectrum and three options of size. 10 inch would work for small coop, 16 inch for medium coop.

https://www.amazon.com/GE-Premium-C...led+plug+in+light&qid=1610503389&sr=8-13&th=1

 

[PapaRo]

My 5 sex link just started to lay last week, born August 13ish ... I bet you get an egg in a couple weeks if you have happy birds below, what a golden comet kinda looks like right before it lays ..

 

[PapaRo]

Oh ya ... give you chickens a nice warm spot they they would feel safe to have chicks and they will lay in the winter just not a full potential