This is question that pops up from time to time. A pattern is emerging that makes sense, Hens that go broody once chicks have been hatched for a week or two require only three to four days for clucking to stop and an additional 10 days or so for weight to get back up to enable laying. Hens that loose brood in the first couple days or fail to hatch take a week or more to stop clucking and about the same interval thereafter to resume egg production. Pattern less obvious when hens are further along with broods post hatch as weight has already begun to creep up. Somehow the hens have some sort of physiological timer that must go off with each reproductive effort before another can be started.
