Egg laying In Winter?

[SoCha]

Hi, I have 3 Light Sussex chicken. They are about 5 months old and did not lay their first egg yet. But we live in Canada with cold weather, and the coop is cold we have a heating light and everything but we didn't put it on yet because it's not that cold yet, but should we put it on? If we want our chicken to lay eggs do we open the light, does it change anything. Or we just put the light on when it is really cold?
Thank you Worryrat.

 

[SIMZ]

It's probably not being cold that is affecting them as much as the short daylight hours this time of year. Most of the time supplemental light will improve winter laying since hens slow down or stop laying when daylight hours decrease. Since this is your chickens first winter, they should lay regardless, but it should help. For supplemental light just use a regular (not your heat lamp!) low-wattage bulb and add light to around 15 hours a day. A timer works best for doing this. Ours comes on from 5-8 in the morning and then again from 5-8 at night.

 

[aart]

Hi, I have 3 Light Sussex chicken. They are about 5 months old and did not lay their first egg yet. But we live in Canada with cold weather, and the coop is cold we have a heating light and everything but we didn't put it on yet because it's not that cold yet, but should we put it on? If we want our chicken to lay eggs do we open the light, does it change anything. Or we just put the light on when it is really cold?
Thank you Worryrat.

5 months is young to be laying, especially this late in the year.

You really don't need a heat lamp.
They can be very dangerous as a fire hazard and if the power goes out can cause shock due to temperature change.

If you're going got use a light for winter laying, it needs to be consistent.
Here's a pretty good article on supplemental lighting for winter laying.