Young POL pullets

[Myrkk]

We have two Scots Greys around 22wks old and Plymouth Rock around 20wks old so all coming into laying age. However, it is getting cold here and the clocks go back soon so much shorter days. Is there any likelihood of us getting eggs this year or will it be next spring before they start laying?

One of them is puttering off herself every now and then so unsure if she’s laying somewhere in the garden I don’t know about.

 

[GodLovesU]

If you install a light in their coop they might keep laying.

 

[RiDaGeckoGuy]

We have two Scots Greys around 22wks old and Plymouth Rock around 20wks old so all coming into laying age. However, it is getting cold here and the clocks go back soon so much shorter days. Is there any likelihood of us getting eggs this year or will it be next spring before they start laying?

One of them is puttering off herself every now and then so unsure if she’s laying somewhere in the garden I don’t know about.

During winter my new layers started laying and I got around
1-2 eggs a day even in negative temperatures. Because of the weather here in Oklahoma my chickens usually start laying in late September and keep laying through October, November, December, February, March, April, and stop at the end of May.

 

[WingItRanch]

Which part of the world are you in? I'm in Texas and 2 out of my 11 pullets recently started laying and others are showing signs they're close. It's not impossible with young layers to start even though days are shorter but it's also not a given. They may wait until spring.

 

[RiDaGeckoGuy]

Which part of the world are you in? I'm in Texas and 2 out of my 11 pullets recently started laying and others are showing signs they're close. It's not impossible with young layers to start even though days are shorter but it's also not a given. They may wait until spring.

What part of Texas you in I’m in south east OK and mine lay through winter and it gets below -14 sometimes

 

[WingItRanch]

What part of Texas you in I’m in south east OK and mine lay through winter and it gets below -14 sometimes

An hour or 2 drive north of Houston! I'm hoping mine will lay all year since they're young.

 

[RiDaGeckoGuy]

An hour or 2 drive north of Houston! I'm hoping mine will lay all year since they're young.

Idk mine are weirdos, everyone else in my town hardly get anything in the winter but lots in the summer and mine are the opposite so it’s probably just based on how they are set up

 

[aart]

We have two Scots Greys around 22wks old and Plymouth Rock around 20wks old so all coming into laying age. However, it is getting cold here and the clocks go back soon so much shorter days. Is there any likelihood of us getting eggs this year or will it be next spring before they start laying?

Do you realize that the days have been getting shorter since June?
But yes, that shortness has accelerated the last week or two.
Turning the clocks back doesn't make the days any shorter, it just changes the clocks.
Hard to say if they'll start laying before December when the days start getting longer again. You could use supplemental lighting in the coop, but that can bring it's own problems and you need to be careful how you manage the lights. Here's a pretty good article on supplemental lighting.

One of them is puttering off herself every now and then so unsure if she’s laying somewhere in the garden I don’t know about.

Here's some tips about how to tell....
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

Would be good to examine them, then maybe:
Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop/run for a week or so can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. Fake eggs/golf balls in the nests can help 'show' them were to lay. They can be confined to coop and maybe run 24/7 for a few days to a week, provided you have adequate space and ventilation, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it. ..at least for a good while, then repeat as necessary.

 

[Myrkk]

We’re in Scotland so the days change late October to getting light back of 8 in the morning and dark by 3.30ish in the afternoon. Yes aart I’m aware that the days are in a perpetual cycle of getting longer or shorter, it just depends how long the day is as to whether plants grow well or chooks lay.

I’m not fussed about getting eggs over winter and won’t be putting a light in the coop, they need that time off to recharge their batteries as far as I’m concerned. I’m just wondering if I should be looking for eggs. Thanks for the articles I will go have a read.

One, the rock has a very fluffy butt and she is the one that is disappearing every now and then but I haven’t heard any of the noise that usually accompanies an egg being laid.

 

[aart]

We’re in Scotland so the days change late October to getting light back of 8 in the morning and dark by 3.30ish in the afternoon.

Are they in a coop with no windows?
If you're lucky they may lay yet this year.
I use some light, but all my birds are older and I just had to buy eggs at the market.

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