Broody not leaving nest to eat/drink/poo

[patandchickens]

My sweet little Maudie is about 8-10 days into sitting on 8 eggs (was 9, she left one out to get cold, I broke it open and it was a quitter anyhow). She had been in the main pen, but two days ago I picked up the whole darn nestbox assembly and carried it across the aisle to an isolation pen. She did not move or seem overly disturbed.

However she has not left the nest now in 48 hrs -- the shavings around the water/feed are totally undisturbed, the feed is undisturbed, and there is zero poo anywhere in the isolation pen.

I do believe she was getting off every now and then, before I moved her -- there were some gigantic poos near the nestbox, and I caught her once when it seemed like she'd just gotten back to the eggs.

This morning, since it'd been 48 hrs, I lifted her down to the food and water. She ate like one crumble and had one miniscule sip of water, no poo, and then heaved herself back up the little ladder to the nestbox to get back on the eggs.

What should I do? Keep lifting her down once a day? Put food and water within her reach in the nestbox (but I'm worried she'll poo on the eggs if she never gets off). Put food and water on a table next to the nestbox so she does have to get off the eggs but doesn't have to descend the ramp? Leave food and water on the floor but try leaving her a little 'snack' of scrambled egg or something that she can reach in the nestbox?

This is her first time, so I'm not sure she necessarily knows what she's doing (instinct is not perfect); this is MY first time with a broody too, and I for SURE don't know what I'm doing

Advice please?

Thanks,

Pat

 

[M@M@2four]

Don't worry too much...I have/have had lots of broodies and I've never had one starve or dehydrate. One thing I do every once in awhile is take the water to her and just hold it in front of her to get a drink. I also put a little bowl of layer pellet in her nesting box.

 

[ChooksChick]

Mine did this too, and I put little bowls full of protein-filled food in font of her. Things with a lot of moisture, like stiff oatmeal chunks mixed in yogurt and thawed chopped frozen spinach on the side. She ate a lot of scrambled eggs, too. I'd put a little bowl of water near her, as well, and all of this was within her reach with out getting up.

She did still get up to poo- just not every day.

She lost a lot of weight, I have to say- still a couple of pounds lighter than her peers, and the chicks are 8 weeks old!

It's really hard on these girls- I don't know how a silkie does it over and over!