Question about hen sitting on eggs

[Kristina]

Sorry I'm not sure of the correct terminology here Sorry!

I use to raise chickens as a child for 4-H and now that I have my own kids we have gotten back into it but I am very much needing some info. I'm sorry if this is in the wrong section...first question is this...we have a hen who seems to want to sit on her eggs but she is not on them constantly. Is she supposed to be on them constantly or is it okay for her to be spending time off of them? (not just the time she spends eating and drinking) Second question is this there are seven total eggs in her box but she seems to have gathered 5 of her eggs to sit on but left two out...does this mean they are infertile or is this just a personal limit she's chosen? Sorry if any of these questions sound stupid We always just gathered the eggs and never tried letting the hens set.

 

[Whirlwind]

Hi not sure if your hen is broody or not. When my hen Belle went broody she would not get off the nest for 2 days. At least I did'nt see her. She puffed feathers out and screeched at me. Also tried to peck me. I did have golf balls in the nests as I had pullets and wanted them to know what nest were for. The nest Belle picked to set in did have the golf ball rolled out of it 2 diff times before she started sitting. I did not put this together with her sitting. But maybe she did this. Don't know for sure. If your hen is getting broody you will soon know for sure. Good luck. Hope I might of been a little help.

 

[Hotwings]

A hen that is seriously broody will go into this zen like trance. They will sit on the nest and usually won't budge. Some may even have to be coaxed into eating.

 

[Kristina]

Thanks so much for the replies. By the sound of it I don't think she is broody yet. She gets out of the box a lot to "play".