Does Setting Hens Eat & Drink?

[andischickenfarm]

I've got some hens setting on eggs in a 10 hole nest and there is no way I can get food and water in there with them. What should I do? I tried moving them and that didn't work.

Thanks,
Andi

 

[Frozen Feathers]

They will leave the nest to eat and drink. The best thing to do is have their food as close to the nest as possible for the eggs sake.

 

[Rooster01]

They will get up and eat, drink when they want to. Your just not seeing them get up to go eat and drink. They will be fine.

 

[SpottedCrow]

Sometimes you'll get a hen that's so far into the "Broody Zone" that she'll forget to eat and drink and you'll have to get her off the nest to do so or you'll lose your hen. Penny was like that. And Speckled Hen had one that was so determined that she got so far out of it that she could only twitch.

 

[CarriBrown]

What I do is move the hen and her eggs at night (they get into a "zone" when asleep and it will be less stressful to her) to a brooder where she can have some privacy. I use a huge tupperware storage container - no lid, of course - and put the broody in the house. I put the food and water close enough so she doesn't have to get off her nest. It also helps if you feed them their favorite foods, like tomato, lettuce, grapes, etc. They are more likely to eat a healthy treat rather than the same ol' same ol'.

 

[joannamarie]

my hen wouldnt get up to eat or drink while Broody i had to keep them near her, i kept moving the water back So She DiDnt Spill it