Hens laying in winter-ok?

[Jami F]

My three hens are still laying an egg a day and it’s winter? Is it okay? I thought they needed to “rest.” They have an acre to free range all day and go to bed in their coop at night. Their layer feed is in their coop. I have water bowls all over.

 

[GC-Raptor]

My three hens are still laying an egg a day and it’s winter? Is it okay?

Sure.
My pullets 9 months old have laid daily.
My hens 29 months old took a break to molt and 2 are laying again.

I add lights 5 am year round. None in the evening. GC

 

[Aapomp831]

It’s perfectly fine... they usually take a break when they molt.

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

It's OK. It won't harm them or affect them in any way. They usually only take breaks to molt, or if that's what the specific chicken breed does. For example, Ayam Cemanis lay for a month and then take a break for about 3 weeks. Just depends.

 

[aart]

My three hens are still laying an egg a day and it’s winter? Is it okay?

Going to assume your birds are less than 12 months old?
Pullets will often lay thru their first winter...even without any supplemental lighting.
Enjoy it......next winter will be different.

FYI-PSA.....semantics, maybe, but can be important communication terms when discussing chicken behavior.
Female chickens are called pullets until one year of age, then they are called hens.
Male chickens are called cockerels until one year of age, then they are called cocks(or cockbirds or roosters).
Age in weeks or months is always a good thing to note.

 

[Jami F]

Sure.
My pullets 9 months old have laid daily.
My hens 29 months old took a break to molt and 2 are laying again.View attachment 2512700
I add lights 5 am year round. None in the evening. GC

 

[Jami F]

Thanks. I keep reading about people trying to get their hens to lay in the winter and I got worried. My pulleys are 9 months too! Isa Browns, I think. Love them to death!

 

[Ridgerunner]

My three hens are still laying an egg a day and it’s winter? Is it okay?

How old are they? Some pullets (some but not all) skip the molt their first winter and keep laying until the following fall when they molt and take a break from laying. Others molt their first fall/winter and stop laying. Like Aart, I'm guessing that yours are seeing their first fall/winter. (I see you answered while I was typing. And ISA Browns are especially bred to lay a lot so this is pretty typical behavior for them.)

The normal pattern for hens is that they lay eggs during the good weather months, then stop laying eggs and use that nutrition to replace worn-out feathers. The trigger for that is the days getting shorter in the fall. The trigger for them to resume laying is the days getting longer. Some people use lights to stop the days from getting shorter and keep them laying. By domesticating them we've weakened some of those instincts. If you don't play with the lights the vast majority will still stop laying and molt when the days get shorter the second fall/winter if they don't their first fall/winter.

One place domesticating them has changed them is that some do not wait for the days to get longer in the spring to resume laying after the molt. They now start laying after they replace their feathers. This is some of them, not all. Some will wait for the longer days of spring. It's pretty normal for most of mine to start laying after the molt in the dead of winter. I remember one specific adult broody hen that molted in late summer while she was taking care of her chicks and had finished the molt and was laying again by the time the rest of the flock started molting. That older hen laid all through winter.

So with ISA Browns 9 months old, absolutely normal.

 

[Sycamore Hill Chicks]

My three hens are still laying an egg a day and it’s winter? Is it okay? I thought they needed to “rest.” They have an acre to free range all day and go to bed in their coop at night. Their layer feed is in their coop. I have water bowls all over.

That’s ok. They will probably stop laying when they get older earlier if they continue to be that consistent but otherwise it’s not a problem. More eggs! Yay!

 

[GC-Raptor]

My pulleys are 9 months too! Isa Browns,

My pullets are ISA Browns too.

My hens are Barred Rocks.

This hen just started to lay after her molt. The hen behind her did a partial molt and has been laying for a month. GC