Here in Pennsylvania, US.... rats will definitely eat eggs or even chicks if they can access them, they would probably scare a hen off of the nest pretty easily too, especially if she's not a dominate hen or an aggressive broody. If you have a known problem with aggressive rats I would do whatever I could to reinforce her nesting area to keep her and the eggs/peeps safe for at least a short while after they hatch and at night when they are on the nest. Once the broody has them out and about there is very little you can do other than hope she is willing to fight off any rats that bother her or the babies.
Edit to add.... around here there are also snakes and possums and raccoons that can be threats to eggs and even adult birds, let alone peeps, you may not notice an occasional egg go missing from a snake but you will if it gets one of the broody's eggs. Not to make you paranoid, just another thing to mention can be a risk to mamma and chicks.
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