Broody takes lots of breaks from the nest

[Broody Bist]

Hi all.
I can’t really say that I am new to having broodies. I think in all I’ve been through about 4 natural hatches with my hens, but none really like this one.

All of the hens we have had hatch eggs have been Buff Orpingtons, but this time one of my silkie girls is broody.
To get right to the point, my BO’s usually stayed on the nest ALL day, and I ended up feeding them myself (one of our first Broodies starved herself ) so I have always been super careful about making sure they’re eating.

My silkie is a different story though. She just does her own thing. She’ll go out of her nest and eat and drink and dust bathe and forage for a while before even returning to her eggs. Like I said, I’ve never had this before and I’m wondering if I should worry or be relieved? Is it bad for the eggs that she takes such long breaks? I mean I’m really happy she’s eating on her own, but I would hate it if she sat for a little while and let the eggs develop then just left.
I guess I won’t have to worry about them getting too cold, it gets up in the 80’s during the day, but I just really want someone to reassure me that this is normal behavior and the eggs will be fine, and that I won’t have to worry about her breaking out of her broodiness all of a sudden.

Thanks for reading, I hope I don’t sound too stupid. I’m just really used to stubborn broodies who refuse to ever leave their nests.

~Elisabeth

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

From my experience, some hens "get" being broody and others don't. Yours may fall into the latter category. My most broody hen never stays on the same nest.

 

[Uff Da]

I've not had any broodies yet, but I've read broodies can take up to an hour break away from their eggs everyday, AND research now shows that periodic cooling actually increases hatch rates. Brinsea incubators have started manufacturing their more advanced lines with built-in cooling cycles to take advantage of this. So I would say as long as she is not leaving for hours at a stretch, things are fine.

 

[RoosterML]

Let mama do what mama will do. You’ll see the results in 21 days. Good luck.