Will my hens really quit laying in winter if I don't add heat source?

[ehoneybee]

I thought they still lay maybe just not as much. I don't have electricity running out there and didn't plan to...I'm in zone 5b/6.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

It's not heat but light. They need a certain amount of light a day to lay eggs. Some chickens will lay through winter without added light. I personally let them have a break. Here is an article to read through.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chickens-winter-egg-laying-and-lighting.64477/

 

[IZZYBELLA]

My chickens that start laying in the fall usually lay through their first winter without a slowdown. The older girls slow waaaay down, but don't stop completely. I will get maybe one egg every other day out of 7 hens. I do not add light or heat. I let them focus on maintaining health in the cold weather, rather than worrying about laying. I'm in Southern Maine, so similar climate to you.

The one reason you might consider running electricity is for a water heater. Breaking ice multiple times a day or waking to a solid block in the watered is no fun, particularly when it is storming!

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

All chickens are different. I have girls that molt in August and don't lay again till January. I had girls start to lay, laid eggs for a month or two, then quit for winter. Two girls held out on their first egg till the new year.

 

[Cntry1958]

Ours quit laying all winter and I am in Maryland. We didn't had extra light either we gave them a rest for the winter. We did have electric for the water so it wouldn't freeze their water containers.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

First year layers will lay over winter at a decreased rate. Older hens may start up as soon as December and will also lay at a decreased rate. Temperature drops will often cause halts in laying. I add no heat or extra light to my birds. Most will pick up production in March and April.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

First year layers will lay over winter at a decreased rate. Older hens may start up as soon as December and will also lay at a decreased rate. Temperature drops will often cause halts in laying. I add no heat or extra light to my birds. Most will pick up production in March and April.

X2.... this is an advantage of keeping a two or more generation flock...mi usually have 50% first years and 50% 2nd laying cycle birds.... my younger girls lay while the older girls take the winter off. I've kept flocks in some very cold winter climates(including mountains of Idaho), i don't use heat in my coops, this approach keeps me in a steady supply of eggs

 

[lazy gardener]

Not always. My first flock, by all reports of the "first year layers laying through the winter bla, bla, bla" consisted of 5 pullets. I had one EE who faithfully gave me 3 eggs/week. Nope. They didn't read the memo! Since then, I've given a fall break, followed by ramping up the light starting in November.

 

[ChickenMammX4]

It has more to do with hours of daylight than temperature. We've never added light to our coop preferring to give them a rest over the winter. Laying resumes as daylight hours increase in the spring. With 6 hens, we would get maybe 6 eggs/week during the winter.

 

[RodNTN]

My chickens usually prefer a break before spring comes around again, so I usually leave artificial light out. Besides, last winter I was still getting 15 to 16 eggs a day without any artificial light.