1st broody hen

[Porpie Pie]

One of my buff Orpingtons went broody. I currently have 4 eggs in an incubator in the house that are all fertile. Couple days before lockdown is when she went broody ( go figure) I decided it's fine and am letting her set. It's day 1 and I'm not sure if she's gotten up to eat/drink/poop. I'm working from home so I went out to peek at her during breaks and lunch. She ate a little bit if my peach and some spinach from their garden one time and a little bit of an apple and oatmeal snack( apple,oats,sunflower meat, raisins,nuts held together with peanut butter and some plain yogurt) she drank A LOT of water. I left the water and some food next to her nest. Do broody hens not eat or leave the nest because they are dedicated to sitting on eggs or is it more hormonal? I put food in front of her and she seems to not be too interested. Also should I put her outside to get her to poop? Or am I just being a worry hen myself and let her do what she wants and just make sure she's got good quality 'brood food'?

 

[Porpie Pie]

I forgot to mention she looks a little lethargic. I waive food in front of her and it's like she's in a trance and she doesn't notice.

 

[aart]

it's like she's in a trance

She is. It's called the broody trance.
They will often sit tight for the first, and last, few days.
But she should get up and eat.drink/poop/dust bathe.
I roust them out of the nest if they haven't been up after 4 days,
I have them in a separate area so I can tell if they've fed.
Do not leave food where they can reach it from the nest,
you want them to get up so they don't poop in the nest.

 

[Porpie Pie]

Ok that makes sense. I will take away the food and water and put her out to free range if I don't think she's moved in a while

 

[3KillerBs]

Are you planning to have her hatch chicks?

If not, it's best to break her because her health will decline as she passes the time when eggs would have been expected to hatch.

 

[Porpie Pie]

I'm going to candle the eggs to see if they're fertile. If they are then yes I'll let her hatch them. Like Aart said I will take her out of the nest so she can do her business and make sure she eats and drinks. If they are not fertile I plan on breaking her out of her brood. This hatching/ incubating business is exciting but it's got my anxiety up pretty good as well. Hopefully just some first timer jitters.