Question about my broody and her eggs

[dandydoodle]

Okay so I have a broody that is sitting on eggs, this is only the second time we have had a broody. I am going down every day and making her get off to eat and do her stuff. She is pretty stubborn though, a lot of times she will take one sip of water and sit back on the eggs. My concern is it isn't uncommon for her to have accidents on the eggs. Does this usually hurt the babies? I don't think I can get her to quit.

Thanks,
Michelle

 

[Judy]

If she won't get off the nest to poop, she could be one of those (I thought rather rare) broodies that don't get off enough, and you may have to stay with her and make her stay off the nest for 15 or 20 minutes -- and it might be that twice a day would be better. It's unusual for them to poop in the nest. Since eggs are somewhat porous, I suppose it could cause infection on the growing chicks.

Sometimes they won't get off the eggs for the last couple of days, too.

 

[CrazyChickensEverwhere]

When they have accidents, just carefully wipe the eggs with a wet paper towl and change bedding. They should be ok. If you pull her off once a day for a 10 min break there shouldent be problems, but hens are all different. I mean in chicken nature there isnt a human to force them out of the nest and make them go back eat/poop etc so they most likely go poop every once in a while, and they end up with geat hatch results

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Most broody hens make a big firm poop when they get off their nests, it looks like it came out of a dog. Is your hen's poop firm or loose? If it's firm you should just be able to remove it without it making the eggs dirty. If her poop is loose she may need something like yogurt to eat, or ACV in her water, to help her digestion. If she isn't made to get off her nest will she still poop on the eggs?