Will my chicks start laying in the fall?

[meltedviking]

Hi all. I'm new to backyard chicken ranching, and this is officially my first post! My chicks are still very young (about a month old), and my concern is this: they will reach egg-laying age right when the days start to shorten.

My understanding is that hens begin to lay around 5 or 6 months, so that would put their first eggs in October at the earliest. I also understand that egg laying slows and even stops as daylight becomes scarce.

So do you think we will get any eggs at all this year? Do you recommend putting a light in the coop? We really don't need them to lay eggs all winter, but we are excited, and it would be nice to have a few eggs after all of this summer work!

 

[aart]

Welcome!

Some pullets will start to lay in fall and thru the first winter, some will not.
High production breeds roe likely to do so.

You could use supplemental lighting.

First year I started the lighting increase a bit late(mid October), the light should be increased slowly, and the pullets didn't start laying until late December. Here's a pretty good article on supplemental lighting. Some folks think that using lighting shortens the years a hen will lay, I don't agree with that theory but I also plan to cull my older hens for soup at about 3 years old.