Is my hen broody enough for day olds?

[Regina Larsen]

My one yr old JG hen has been broody x3 days. We are quite happy as i want to add some chicks and i prefer her to raise them. All has been fine, but today we noted she hopped into the paddock next to the chicken barn (she went about 20 feet from the nestbox). We said oh well, guess she's done with that. But when we went out for closing up about an hour later she was back in the nestbox. Is a short 'stroll' a sign she's not fully broody or is that normal?
My hope is to go maybe 15-17 days more then go with day olds, i think my supplier will be getting some in right in that window.
Thoughts?

 

[NatJ]

Broody hens will normally come off the nest once or twice a day to eat, drink, and empty their bowels. Sometimes they wander around foraging or dustbathing too.

How long they stay off the nest can vary, and seems to depend partly on the temperature that day, but up to an hour is fairly common, and some stay off for longer than that.

 

[azygous]

In addition to what @NatJ said, broodies will sometimes take their time going full broody. In fact, sometimes a hen will have all the broody signs and still keep laying eggs, never going full-on broody. This happened just recently in my flock with an 18 month old Blue Plymouth Rock. She was doing all the annoying things broodies do, but she never quit laying eggs. Finally, she decided not to go broody after all, and now her broody symptoms have disappeared.

While that was happening, I got four day-olds from the feed store. But an older hen quickly became fixated on them and went partially broody in just a matter of a few days and adopted the chicks. This hen did the same thing with two chicks I brought home last August and she raised those two. This time, though, her little family lost her. She died this week of complications from old age at age nine.

Back to the broody-but-not-broody Plymouth Rock hen. She never showed any interest at all in the four new chicks. Which is the point of my tale. Not all broodies will show interest in store bought chicks. But some unbroody hens might. I did a whole thread on this subject you might find fun to read through. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/we-know-broody-hens-how-about-a-nanny-hen.1407935/

 

[Regina Larsen]

Broody hens will normally come off the nest once or twice a day to eat, drink, and empty their bowels. Sometimes they wander around foraging or dustbathing too.

How long they stay off the nest can vary, and seems to depend partly on the temperature that day, but up to an hour is fairly common, and some stay off for longer than that.

Cool! Ty!

 

[Regina Larsen]

In addition to what @NatJ said, broodies will sometimes take their time going full broody. In fact, sometimes a hen will have all the broody signs and still keep laying eggs, never going full-on broody. This happened just recently in my flock with an 18 month old Blue Plymouth Rock. She was doing all the annoying things broodies do, but she never quit laying eggs. Finally, she decided not to go broody after all, and now her broody symptoms have disappeared.

While that was happening, I got four day-olds from the feed store. But an older hen quickly became fixated on them and went partially broody in just a matter of a few days and adopted the chicks. This hen did the same thing with two chicks I brought home last August and she raised those two. This time, though, her little family lost her. She died this week of complications from old age at age nine.

Back to the broody-but-not-broody Plymouth Rock hen. She never showed any interest at all in the four new chicks. Which is the point of my tale. Not all broodies will show interest in store bought chicks. But some unbroody hens might. I did a whole thread on this subject you might find fun to read through. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/we-know-broody-hens-how-about-a-nanny-hen.1407935/

Ty, i will have a read. Inscrutable creatures!