How large is her enclosure? Broody hens instinctively want to get a ways away from their nest before they poop, so as not to lead predators back to the nest. If her enclosure is sufficiently large enough to comfortably house her and the growing chicks with room for them to exercise, it should be fine. Leave her alone, she'll come off the nest once or twice a day to eat, drink and poop--and dust bathe if she wants. Other than that she'll zone out on the nest. Broodies are awesome moms and one of Nature's wonders, just let her do her thing. :) She'll lose a bit of weight, but just keep her well provided with food and water and try not to interfere and she'll be fine.

It's OK if mama hen eats the chick food, mine have never suffered from it. Don't offer the baby chicks scratch or pellets though, it's too large and they can choke on it or not digest it properly. You can supplement their diet nicely with goodies such as live mealworms or crickets (get them at the pet store), raw corn on the cob, a nice grassy dirt clod (grass, dirt roots and all, makes a great toy, provides needed grit for the babies' crops AND food), diced grapes, scrambled eggs, cooked ground beef, cooked noodles, etc. Make sure to dice food so babies can't choke. Give them a little something every day to keep them entertained and stimulated, and watch mama teach the babies what is food.

When hatch date nears, SIT ON YOUR HANDS and resist the urge to check under her every 5 minutes. Chances are you will hear peeping before the chicks hatch, they can be quite loud. It is nearly impossible to resist the urge to check on them. :)

Have fun with your chicks! Mama hen will be an amazing, tender mother, and fascinating to watch.

Velvet ~:>

Greg, one other thing, which you should be clear on. She should have access to food and water while she's setting. She will go days without getting off that nest, eating or drinking. But other days, she'll get up, sometimes for an hour or even a bit more, and move around. At that time she'll want food and water.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Thanks for the info. Velvet, her enclosure is not very big (but as big as I could make it!). I fenced off the area under my three nestboxes - that should give you an idea of the size. Probably about 2' X4'? She has her nest (a bottom of a cardboard box) at one end, space for a few steps between that and the food and water at the other end. Not sure where she would really like to poop! She does already seem to be getting "broodier"... she has always been nice about me lifting her off her nest in the past (when I would break her of her broodiness) but I noticed last night as I tried to offer her some water, she really pecked at the dish with purpose. Not sure she would like me to interfere at all at this point. But I don't want to open the enclosure either b/c the 2 of the 3 other hens are higher on the pecking order and have kicked her out of her nest on the ground before to lay their own eggs! Hmmmmm... ?

For what it is worth...We hatched under a broody hen for the first time this year, and were worried about the pecking order causing problems. The mamma hen was impressive and made darn sure our other birds didn't mess with her babies. It was pretty neat to watch, and while your birds may behave differently after your eggs hatch, I won't worry about ours next time. Good luck!