Another Question...About Broodying

[FunnyBunnies12]

If a hen goes broody, how many times a day would she leave her nest to eat/drink and for how long at a time? Just so in case my girl is deciding to go broody I won't freak out when I see her out of the nest. She's been sitting for most of the morning and just got up again after being up very momentarily 3hrs ago getting a drink and munching. Still not sure if she is or isn't, but IF she is or does go broody I just wondered typically how many times they would leave the nest and for how long to munch on food and get a drink.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
My experience indicates it is srongly influenced by outside temperature at least in terms of how long they will stay off a nest. If it is warm the eggs cool more slowly and they stay off longer. I lnow in cold temperatures they are only off for maybe ten minutes but since a duck needs to do some things off the nest they may be off more often for shorter periods. Eat drink and poop are needed. On the other hand I have had a few that I think go into broody trance and don't seem to move for days at a time. Because they fail to turn eggs like a normal duck does these trance nests seem to be much less productive than norma lnests where the ducks get out and about more often.