No eggs until Spring?

[chicknerd]

Hi

I am new to chickens. All my pullets were born since April. I realize those that were born in late July will not lay until the spring. I have 5 born in April that are laying well these past three months. I have 10 others born in April and May who are not laying yet, I believe. 9 of the 10 look mature - full red wattles and combs, and nice big bottoms. They all come into the coop. One is a mature Polish but she is barely 30 weeks old. Should I assume these other mature 8 will not lay until the spring or might they start laying during the winter?


I get 2-4 eggs a day.

We live in NH and I know we have about 11 hour days. I am not giving them artificial light.

 

[ryanhodapp]

I have read on here that they need 14 hours of day light.
I would put a light in the coop.
My EE's born end of April just started laying this week.
MY RIR born in March, nothing yet.

 

[ND]

They may...or may not start laying. I know, helpful, right?

I have lots of pullets that don't look mature enough yet. I have THREE that do look mature enough, but hadn't laid a thing.

UNTIL, last week. A sex-link decided to lay her first egg... and she's gifted me with about 6 already. On the small side, but pretty decent for a pullet egg.

Another BR and a GLW look plenty mature but nothing yet.

And all three of my hens that were laying have stopped for the most part, though one did decide to lay an egg yesterday.

I've not been adding any artificial light, either.

I actually think the time change messed up the hens that were laying. Well, not the time change specifically... MY timing on letting them out in the mornings. Before the time change, I was opening the coop when it was nearly still dark outside, just beginning to get the tiniest bit light. Now, they're not let out for nearly an hour after the sun comes up because I'm not up yet... so they lost an hour of daylight almost instantly (since they're in a darkened coop) with the time change... but it's really that I'm not out there right as the sun comes up now, but nearly an hour after it already has.

The hens that were laying stopped within a day or two of not getting let out before sunrise.

I'm not dedicated enough to get up an hour earlier for the sunrise.

 

[LeezyBeezy]

I'm in southern Maine, so I have the same weather as you. I have 4 EEs who were hatched in May. One has been laying for about a month, almost everyday. Another laid her first egg today!! Even with the snowy icy weather. So, no telling.... I don't use artificial light either.

 

[woodmort]

You'll get eggs when they're ready to lay. Maybe not as many or as often as if the weather were warmer and if you were giving them extra light, but its been my experience that when first-year layers are ready, they'll lay regardless of the time of year. The second year, however, may be a different story as they will probably go into moult as soon as the anniversary of their original POL approaches.

 

[chicknerd]

Thank you all!

I wont worry and we will see what happens!

 

[Mattemma]

I think it just depends on the hen.My initial 3 hens were red sex link.They were in a metal shed all day with almost no light,and I got 1-3 eggs a day all winter.I was very suprised. You just have to wait and see.I just would not recommend anything electrical to heat or light due to fire risk.

 

[LizGled628]

Mine were born in early June, and they are laying! We are in RI so the weather is similar. I have a light that I turn on when I open the coop, and turn off before I go to bed. I think it helps not only with the laying, but it keeps it a little warmer in there

 

[featherz]

My first year leghorns (born in may) and my RIR's are still laying. I have four pullets almost ready to lay, no word on those yet.

 

[gritsar]

All my pullets were hatched in June, June 9th to be exact. One started laying about two weeks ago and more are starting to lay each day. I don't add light.

It's been my experience that pullets will lay well their first winter, regardless of whether you add light or not.