When does a broody hen start laying again?

[Wehner Homestead]

How quickly does a broody hen typically start laying again?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Depends often on how quick you break her. I have broke them as they are laying their final egg and they have resumed in about 2 weeks. The longer broody, the longer it takes.

Consider the egg laying process as a factory. If the whole factory gets shut down, it takes longer for it to get up and running again the longer it's been shut down.

So after all that the simple answer is anywhere from 2-8 weeks from just being broody, and if she's been sitting more than 2 weeks or has raised chicks it can much longer. So break them right away. Average is 2-4 weeks when broke in the first week.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If she is caring for baby chicks, it is usually about the time they wean the chicks (+ a week or two) from their warmth and care. In warm weather it is much sooner than in cold weather.

 

[Wehner Homestead]

She hatched chicks but got rough with them so we separated her from them when they were about one week. They are now almost four weeks old.

I am curious to see what the typical range is though because she was in rough condition when I got her so I'm assuming she will take even longer due to recovering. (I'm more than willing to give her the time to do this.)

She's a FBCM so I expect her to go broody agin in the future.