Broody hen poop in nest?

[KRack]

So I was checking on our broody hen because I wanted to candle an egg (only on day 5-6, but I was curious). While in there I noticed that she's pooping in the box and a mess. I'm not sure how solid it is. It sounded wet when it came out but she's sitting on it so I couldn't really tell. Is this normal? I assumed she'd leave the nest to take care of business, so I'm a little worried she's broody and sick.

 

[NatJ]

Broodies typically do leave the nest to poop, but there are always exceptions (like your hen.)

I would collect fresh bedding and some rags or paper towels, then lift her out and clean it up. Wipe any obvious poop off the eggs, remove the dirty bedding, put in fresh bedding, put the eggs back in. If the hen is hanging around, let her back in at that point. If she is eating, drinking, pooping, or having a dust bath, let her finish that and put herself back in.

If she will let you, you could gently feel her crop each day. If it has food, she got off to eat, and hopefully pooped too. But if she did not eat, she probably did not poop either-- so it might be good to lift her off the nest and sit her by the food. That will hopefully prompt her to eat, drink, and poop. Or you could just let her decide what to do when. She might have decided not to do that again.

 

[Hopeful homesteader]

My hen did it twice but her eggs had just hatched and she had a chick that wasn't fully dry yet under her both times she pooped so I understand why she didn't leave the nest to do it. I have a putty knife I use for scraping poop off the roosts and collection board so I used that to scoop out the soiled bedding kinda like using a spatula to scoop up a pancake or something and added a handful of new bedding. She kinda stood up and I was able to remove it without taking her out.

 

[KRack]

Thank you both for your feedback!

I ended up getting her off and rinsing her off last night, and changing the bedding. She ate a bit and then went back on the eggs. I lifted her off again this morning just to make sure there were no messes to clean up before it got in the 90's and was harder. There were no messes, she ate and drank and went back on the eggs.

I'll start checking her crop to see if she's getting out on her own, and if she's not, I may try to get her out each morning or evening to encourage her to eat, drink and poop.