Brooding Hen Eating Eggs - HELP

[roybus]

One of my hens is brooding so we bought some fertilized eggs and she has been diligently sitting on them for 1.5 weeks now. We take her out of the nesting box twice/day to eat and drink and she gets right back into the nesting box after about 5 minuets. We have now noticed that she is starting to eat the eggs she's sitting on! How can we stop this???
Please help!

 

[henney penny]

Oh my never heard tell of it.I don`t take my broody off the nest at all,I put food and water close to her so she can get it herself,and she and the other broodie get off some time to eat and drink cause I have to keep filling.Hope someone can help you

 

[Judy]

They will do this if the chick has died.

But broodies being unpredictable, she could be killing her babies, too. I had one that did this. There were ants in the nest and I arrived too late to decide whether the ants or the chick dying came first. An incubator is really your only option if you're convinced she's killing live chicks. Have you candled them?

BTW, I prefer not to keep food and water too close, because I figure broodies need all the exercise they are willing to get.