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It's not a fear thing. Hens wouldn't relate missing birds to not laying eggs. It's all hormones, not the will of the hen. No more than you can just "decide not to ovulate". Besides, fear would be stressful, and stress may cause hens to lay less, not more, or so they say. Couldn't prove it by my chickens, they don't get upset by much, nest changes, coop changes, moving them, etc. They just keep on laying anyway.
If this was just recently, your hens were probably molting, they do that in the fall. Every fall. It slows or stops egg production, because they need all that protein to make new feathers.
As for the light, unless you live way north, or have a breed that really is a seasonal layer, once they get through molt, they should resume laying and continue all winter. I actually get more eggs in winter because they aren't constantly going broody. Molt can take as long as 3 months, but if they have adequate protein, (try giving them 20%) you should still get some eggs, just not nearly as many as usual.
