How long after my girls finish being broody should I expect them to start laying again

[annroberts54]

2 of my 3 Red Wyandotte's went broody and I was unable to break them so they pretty much sat on their nests for almost a month. Once a day I would remove them from the next and close up the coop so that they would go out and do what they needed to do. Then all of a sudden they were done and seem back to normal. But it has been a week and I am not sure they have started laying yet. Any idea of what the normal times is between the end of a broody cycle and the laying of eggs again? Help, we are missing our eggs!

 

[folgerrd]

They might still be laying, only in a new spot. Sometimes hens who are broken out of their broodiness by being taken out of the coop/nest try to find new places to lay. Look around where they usually hang out or follow them around for awhile. For future reference I've heard another way to break it is to dunk their feet or breast area into cold water.

 

[aghiowa]

It can take a good long while. I had an ameraucana (purebred) go broody at the end of July last year. We broke the broody in a wire bottom cage for 2 days, then she waited a week or two, started molting, and didn't lay again until November!!

Be patient.

Angela