Help I think My RIR hen is broody!

[LSU2001]

I had 25 RIR chickes delivered Dec. 31st 2008 and it is July 7th 2009.
One of my RIR hens refuses to get off of the nest. She is not showing any sign of aggression and even allows me to pet her. The problem is she has been sitting on the nest for 3 days and as far as I can tell she has only gotten out one time when I was building her an area away from the others and was hammering. The loud noise spooked her and she jumped out.

After a few minutes she returned and promptly got into the wrong nest. Anyway, I collected all of the eggs (9) and the hen and installed her in the enclosure I built. She got on the nest and has not moved since (2 days). My worry is that as far as I can tell she has not eaten any food nor taken any water in two days. also there is no fecal matter in the enclosure so I don't think she has even defecated.
Any help would be appreciated, Maybe I am worrying too much and the hen knows what she needs and when she needs it.

Ps. I have water and food available to her in her special enclosure.

Tim

 

[Judy]

There seem to be two different schools of thought on here. One is, leave them alone, they know what they are doing. The other is, since they lose weight when brooding in most all cases, it is better to monitor, and see that they eat/drink/poop at least once a day.

My experience was that my broody stood up in her cage each AM when I opened the coop. I thought, OK, let's see, and opened the cage. She ran around for about 20 minutes, ate, drank, pooped, even scratched for bugs a bit, then went back to the nest. So I closed the cage to keep the other hens out. In the PM, I could not get her to get back up, but she would eat a little out of my hand, so I gave a "wet" treat like tomatoes so she would also get some water. Turned out fine for me. Incidentally, when the eggs hatched, I removed the cage and she is raising chicks with the flock.

Personally, I would be concerned that she did not poop even once all day, and would get her up once a day.

Mine didn't peck at me, either, but then she was already my pet. She did a little growling, though.

I had food and water in the cage, too, but she rarely if ever touched them; she would eat and drink at her usual places in the morning, instead.

 

[LynneP]

Broodies can be difficult, and some will lose more body mass than they can tolerate. You gave her fertilized eggs? If not I'd try to break her behavior to preserve her health-

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=7693-sick-hen

If you want her to hatch eggs, you may have to intervene and hand-feed her. Sometimes all it takes is moistened layer pellets put in a little container offered in the nest. But it can get more complicated than that.

 

[Judy]

Oh, forgot, here is a website on working with broodies:

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Broody-Hens-1.html

 

[LSU2001]

The eggs should be fertile. I have 3 roos with 13 hens. Prior to her installing herself in the nest the roos constantly harass the hens. I am planning on disposing of the two extra roos but haven't gotten around to doing the deed.

She seems quite comfortable in her private cage it's just that she is not getting off the nest. Should I force her to get up and move about our just let her sit?
Tim

 

[Judy]

Quote:
In the end, you're the one who is there and can see how she is and will have to decide.

One thing you could do is pick her up and feel her over carefully, how sharp does the keel feel, how heavy does she feel, etc. Then you will have something to compare to as the weeks progress. Usually they only get up once a day for just a few minutes, so you will most likely not see her do it. One or two gobs of poo could be buried in the hay in the nest box or whatever. Keep an eye on her comb for changes in color. A RIR should have a tall enough comb that it will droop a bit if she is too dehydrated. Just look her over and use your best judgment. I'm sure you'll do fine with her.