Broody hen problem

[Johnchickens2]

Hi! My broody hen takes a break twice a day - once in the early morning hours, and another one in the afternoon.
Each time she stays off nest for about 35 mins or even more (normal???)
The thing is that 90% of the break is spent for dust-bathing and feathers preening!!
Only a minute or two are spent for eating and drinking (which means she eats very little)...
I try to give her tasty treats but she ignores them. Mostly interested in preening feathers and dust bathing. Is it normal???

 

[Firsttimehens1234]

Hi! My broody hen takes a break twice a day - once in the early morning hours, and another one in the afternoon.
Each time she stays off nest for about 35 mins or even more (normal???)
The thing is that 90% of the break is spent for dust-bathing and feathers preening!!
Only a minute or two are spent for eating and drinking (which means she eats very little)...
I try to give her tasty treats but she ignores them. Mostly interested in preening feathers and dust bathing. Is it normal???

Its totally normal,hens can take breaks up to an hour and when they go broody they eat about 80% less food than they normally do.
you also have to think about that they lay down so many hours a day so they have to get clean and clean themselves when they are off the nest

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Is it normal???

Yes, to me it's normal.

Each hen will determine how long is okay for them to take off of the nest and it varies according to the weather.. at least in MY experience. When it's colder the hurry back faster. This slight cooling of the eggs.. has actually been shown in studies to increase hatch rates in incubators.

Her digestive system is slowed in order not to poop on eggs. She will still eat to meet her energy needs.. and relieve herself during her outings.

It is normal to lose some body condition while sitting.

Is she eating "layer" feed or which type? If she's gonna be raising babies.. no problem switching her to chick starter or flock raiser now if that's not what's already being used. How long has she been broody for?

 

[Johnchickens2]

Yes, to me it's normal.

Each hen will determine how long is okay for them to take off of the nest and it varies according to the weather.. at least in MY experience. When it's colder the hurry back faster. This slight cooling of the eggs.. has actually been shown in studies to increase hatch rates in incubators.

Her digestive system is slowed in order not to poop on eggs. She will still eat to meet her energy needs.. and relieve herself during her outings.

It is normal to lose some body condition while sitting.

Is she eating "layer" feed or which type? If she's gonna be raising babies.. no problem switching her to chick starter or flock raiser now if that's not what's already being used. How long has she been broody for?

Thanks
I give her chick starter, and also treats like hard boild eggs, chopped chicken scrapes, watermelon, grapes, cooked rice, sweet corn...

She has been broody for about 5 days now

 

[Johnchickens2]

Today I offered her some chopped watermelon and grapes, she didn't even touch it...... ):