Do young hens stop laying for the winter?

[Chubbicthe2nd]

I know older hens will stop laying for the winter, but what about hens that are 7.5 months old and have been laying since about 5 months old?

It got really cloudy here, and at night time started dipping below freezing. It still warms up into the 60s during the day.

Our hens free range during the day, so it's possible they suddenly started a hidden nest.... though doing it now when everything is really cold seems a bit nuts.

(They're barnyard mixes, but predominantly Light Sussex, Welsummer, Dark Cornish, Easter Egger, Barred Rock, and Wyandotte)

 

[nuthatched]

The low daylight hours are what triggers the pause on laying, they may through, they may not.

 

[16 and me]

I have 2 that are still going, a 6 month old Black Copper Marans and a 1 yr old RIR. The others that are in the 5 month - 1 yr range have stopped. Last year they were the last to stop and the first to start up laying again, som as early as mid-January.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Didn't bother our BLK AUS going into winter at 10 months and doesn't seem to bother them going into their 2nd coming off a Fall molt. This is with nothing more than cycle of the natural course of the available light and temperature.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It got really cloudy here, and at night time started dipping below freezing. It still warms up into the 60s during the day.

Colder weather may slow them down laying some but that's not what stops them for the season. The days getting shorter is what causes them to stop laying and usually to molt. Practically every hen over a year old will stop laying and molt her second fall unless you manage the lights. Some pullets will stop laying and molt their first fall, some don't but continue laying throughout the winter and all the way until their second fall.

The length of daylight isn't important. You'll read on here that hens need 14 or 16 hours of daylight to lay. My pullets and hens never got that memo. If they are laying they can lay quite well on 10 hours of daylight. In Texas you are probably getting at least that much light.

If some of your pullets have shut down for the season, they are probably molting. Are you seeing feathers flying around?

Our hens free range during the day, so it's possible they suddenly started a hidden nest.... though doing it now when everything is really cold seems a bit nuts.

We call them bird brains. That doesn't mean they are stupid, their logic is just different from yours. Their brains work differently.

Try locking them in the coop and run for three days if you can. If you start seeing eggs that means they are hiding a nest on you or some egg-eating critter has been locked out.