How long of an egglaying break do your molting chickens take?

[jennyf]

How long of a break from laying eggs do your chickens take when molting? This will be the first molt for mine. Trying to figure out how many eggs I need to freeze to have enough for scrambled, quiches, and baking while girls are on hiatus. And, in your experience, do they all quit at once? Do they lay sporadically or not at all? Thank you!

 

[JaeG]

Most birds will molt when they personally feel like they need to (some earlier, some later) and wait until sometime after the shortest day to start laying again. My Old English Game bantams like the weather to be warming up before they start laying. Others get back to laying pretty quick. My bantam Wyandottes are frequently broody and I let them do their thing so they laid all winter for me last winter, though doesn't look like I'll be quite so lucky this time round. I know as they all get older they won't be quite so generous with their eggs, and it does depend on what breeds you've got.

Pullets generally don't molt until until they are 18 months old so if this is your birds first winter they should still give you eggs.