I had read that first years have a higher tendency to lay through winter. I was wondering how accurate that was. My second coop have only been laying for 2-3 months and I was hoping that a majority of them would continue. At least enough to supply us with eggs so we don't have t buy from the store.
Ok, so I've read tons of stuff on lighting and layers. I know there are many people that use artificial lights in the coops at winter to keep some layers laying. My sister does this with at least one coop. I've also read the opposing view point that hens need this natural downtime. It's a healthier process to let them molt and go through the non laying phase that winter brings. I, personally do not have coops with electricity and will not be running electricity out there to light the coop. (Unless we end up with cold so bad they need the warmth.) But I am curious as to other's opinions and what they do during the shortened day time period.
