I would move the food and water much further away from her than that. She needs to get off the nest daily to relieve herself or she could have a nasty accident on the nest and contaminate the eggs.Sorry I’m new to this website, I posted two separate times on an accident and my picture was on my other post! Please see picture attached! I hope she gets up and eats and drinks! I have not noticed her do it yet since in the new space!
I manage a broody hen's breaks by physically removing her from the nest each morning but my hens have a much further distance to travel to get back to her nest. It's good for them to run and stretch their legs and wings, eat, drink, dust bathe and preen a bit before going back to the nest. How long she is comfortable being off the nest depends on ambient temperatures. Feel free to read this article on other tips on how I manage a broody.
Once the chicks are highly mobile, usually around 3 days old, I remove barriers between mom and the chicks and let her decide when she wants to take them back to the flock.
The flock should have visual access to her where she is. That is important. I don't restrict hens and the roosters from visiting a broody on her nest during incubation either. I will close her area off when the eggs begin to hatch just to make sure there is no interference from other hens that may cause a chick to be hurt.
