Give the girls a break for the winter?

[ButterBear2x]

Getting ahead of myself for this, I have 1 and 2 week old chicks and I'm a first time chicken owner in MA. I know chickens lay little to no eggs in the winter, but is it "better" to give them the heat and light so they lay throughout the colder months, or to go more natural and let them to have the winter off?
All I'm finding is ways to get more eggs in the winter, but not what's best for the birds.
I wasn't sure if it impacts how many years they produce eggs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Without adding lights, some pullets will continue to lay through their first fall/winter all the way until the next fall. Some don't and may molt and stop laying eggs their first fall/winter to start laying in the Spring.

What causes them to molt is that the days get shorter. They evolved to lay eggs and raise chicks in the good weather months then stop laying and replace worn-out feathers in the fall using the nutrition that was going to make eggs. Then, when the weather turns good they start laying again. When we domesticated them and bred them for better egg laying some of this changed a bit but they still will stick to the original plan if we don't provide additional lighting. If you don't add lights practically all of them will molt their second fall.

After the chickens have laid for a length of time their bodies seem to wear out. They start laying fewer eggs and the quality of those eggs can suffer. With the commercial flocks the drop in number and quality of eggs after about 13 months of continuous laying means they are losing profitability so they have to decide whether to replace them or force them to molt and stop laying so they can refresh their bodies and pick egg production back up. They keep detailed records and use charts to decide whether to molt them or replace them.

Some of our hens lay 5 to 6 eggs a week, some less. During their first laying season (before their first molt) they lay as many eggs a week as they ever will. After their first molt they also lay a lot of eggs and they will probably be a bit bigger. After the second molt they still lay nice sized eggs but production can drop. That's generally around 20% across the flock but some individual hens may still lay really well and some may pretty much stop. In larger flocks that average can be forecast. In smaller flocks one hen can affect that average for good or bad.

When she hatches a pullet has all the ova she will ever have. These ova are what grow to become yolks. When they get older some of these ova can become corrupted and not work any longer. Stuff happens. It is possible a hen can use up all of her good ova and stop laying, in the industry this is a "spent" hen. But with the majority of ours they don't use all of them up, though they can slow down a lot as they get older.

 

[ButterBear2x]

@Ridgerunner Thank you so much for your detailed explanation!

 

[tripletfeb]

I used to provide light so that I got eggs every winter. Then I discovered two things. One, I had to replace my chickens after two or three years because they would stop laying, even in the spring/summer. That's a pain in the butt for me, chicks are cute but I hate waiting for the eggs. Second thing I discovered was water glassing eggs. It's a way to preserve the eggs for future use(I've gotten two plus years) and let the hens have a break in the winter. Some people also get new chicks every spring or so, so they have fresh eggs all winter, provided they have the space for the new chickens. What you decide to do is up to you. But if you do decide to keep them laying, they only need light, not heat. In the darkest part of winter, my light was turning on at 3:00 am