Do broodie hens ruin eggs?

[Ducklove334]

when our hens brood they do get very thin, they come off the nests to eat and drink, the nest boxes are only about 2 feet anyways.

"momma hen" went broody the first time in the feed room, she had acess all the time to food and water right by her nest, she still hardly ate, and got thin.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
Broodies normally only get off the nest once or twice a day, for a very short time, to eat, drink, and poop. Not the normal non-stop eating, and hunting things to eat, that they do while NOT brooding. Eating for just a few minutes only once a day, or at best, twice, is not enough to keep a hen in good body weight. Plus, the metabolism is high at this time, because, despite not moving much, they burn a lot of calories keeping body heat a bit higher than normal to incubate the eggs.

That's how a broody could go thin, and almost all of them do lose weight when brooding.

I feed mine a higher protein while brooding, and give both moms and chicks the same high pro feed when after the hatch. This helps slow down the weight loss, and helps the hen get back in condition after brooding.

 

[Ridgerunner]

When I grew up on the farm, I gathered the eggs once a day, around 5:00 p.m. Any fresh eggs I found under a broody went in with all the others and we had no problems with the freshness or quality of the eggs. I would not use an egg that was left overnight under a broody, but once a day worked fine for us.