Will my hens only start laying in spring?

[Chickie Pia]

I live in South Africa and my RIR hens are 20 weeks old now. My Orpingtons are 25 weeks old and my Brahma hen is about 32 weeks old.

Winter is on its way and it is about 22°C (71°F)

Will they only lay in spring?

 

[Chickie Pia]

Sorry edited

 

[earlybird10842]

I live in South Africa and my RIR hens are 20 weeks old now. My Orpingtons are 25 weeks old and my Brahma hen is about 32 weeks old.

Winter is on its way and it is about 22°C (71°F)

Will they only lay in spring?

No, they will lay through the winter, but they will lay a lot less if there is less light. Some individuals will stop laying. If you would like them to lay about as much or as much in winter, put a light in the coop for 14 hours a day.

 

[Chickie Pia]

They haven't laid before. Does that make a difference? Will they still start to lay? Sorry for the silly questions.

Just a bit of info....They are free range, I let them out every morning and they return to their coup late afternoon. My older hen has 14 chicks but she never laid eggs in the coup. I have big plant pots around the garden with soft hay inside them. The hens that are not laying yet are her "babies" too.