How long before she starts laying again?

[2DogsFarm]

If you wander over to the Raising Baby Chicks forum you can read my Tale of Woe titled "Will this work?"...or something like that (I forget

)

My Houdan hen got broody at the end of June and up until last Sunday she was giving it her All.
I visited friends over the weekend. Friends with chickens.
And brought home 2 day-old chicks thinking to sneak them under her at night.
So, of course, when I got home Sunday with "her" new babies she was out with the others acting as if Broody was a Bad Word.

So now I am fostering the 2 chicks in a 10gal aquarium in the coop and wondering:
Now that Ms H is no longer brooding how soon can I expect her to start laying again?

 

[sourland]

Two months of broodiness has probably worn her down physically. My guess is that she will go into a molt and then resume egg laying. Might take as long as a couple of months. Hens that successfully hatch and raise chicks generally wean them at 5 or 6+ weeks and then resume egg laying. Your hen was broody an extra 5 or 6 weeks. That took a lot out of her.

 

[2DogsFarm]

sourland, you are right on the money!
The coop & yard do seem to have a lot of her feathers lying around...

She didn't lose a lot of weight while she was acting broody but could stand to gain some back.
As far as laying, she can take her time & start when she's ready - I have 4 others doing their share - I just wanted to get an idea of when she would be totally back to normal.