After hatching a clutch, how long before a BO begins to lay again?

BrownEggsnHam

Chirping
10 Years
Apr 7, 2013
54
15
99
Southern Sweden
One of our Buff Orpingtons hatched out her brood about 8 weeks ago (mid June). The three pullets are growing fast and seem to be approaching teenager-hood...




Momma hen is still very much a big part of their lives. They all hang out together through the day and she still calls them for a newfound grub or whatever... together they just began perching on the main roosting bar last night (from a nest in the brush outside- maybe too much lightening and rain-LOL). So now, when can I conceivably start expecting momma hen to lay eggs again?
 
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Typically, the hen mothers the chicks for maybe 6 weeks, then start ignoring them, and resume laying maybe a week later. Perhaps she is not laying because the "mothering hormones" are still active. I'd hate to see them separated forcibly, though; she might just grieve, and still not lay.
 
An update on this query... for anybody that may be interested on the timeline.

This hen laid her first egg again... exactly 9 weeks after hatching her brood.

It was a harried experience as two of her brood (now weighing a touch over one kilo each) tried to join her in the nest box. Lot of screeching/clucking amid the ruckus and I finally pushed them out of the nest box and closed them out of the house until the hen had 'done her duty'. Only one tried to join her the next day, same situation ... and the following day and since all three of the pullets were/have been - sitting together outside the house waiting for 'Momma'.
 

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