Chicken staying in nest box

[Lindygirl]

My chicken will not leave the nest box. Do broody chickens still eat and drink? She has lost feathers on her underside and is not laying.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Yes, a broody still eats and drinks, they just do so very sparingly leaving the nest only 1-2 times a day to gobble, gulp, and poop. Keepers often think the bird never leaves because the hen does so very covertly to avoid drawing attention to their nest site.

Is your bird showing other signs of being broody?

 

[azygous]

The other signs of a hen being broody, besides not leaving the nest and balding along the keel bone, are irritability, a change in vocalization from a normal cluck to a broody "pop". When you try to remove a broody from a nest, she will puff herself up, flaring her neck feathers, growling and screeching, and she may even bite.

If she isn't doing any of those things, she may not be broody, just lazy.