Broody hen what to do

Hey guys
So I've got this Orpington hen who in the last few days has become very broody I guess she just wants babies poor thing. The problem is I don't have a male so I have been prising the eggs off her as they're for eating purposes and they are not fertilised I feel horrible taking them off her and so currently have her sitting on golf balls. Just wondering what I should do should I leave her sitting on golf balls or should I go and buy some fertilised eggs for her to sit on. I love her to bits and hate the thought of her being upset
Thanks for the help

Kala98 said:

Hey guys
So I've got this Orpington hen who in the last few days has become very broody I guess she just wants babies poor thing. The problem is I don't have a male so I have been prising the eggs off her as they're for eating purposes and they are not fertilised I feel horrible taking them off her and so currently have her sitting on golf balls. Just wondering what I should do should I leave her sitting on golf balls or should I go and buy some fertilised eggs for her to sit on. I love her to bits and hate the thought of her being upset
Thanks for the help

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Are you ready/able to add to your flock at this time? If not, no hatching or giving her chicks to adopt is not a good solution. If you are ready/abe to add to the flock, the options would be to get fertile eggs or day old chicks. Things to consider if you go that route- what will you do with any male chicks, are you setup to house additional birds, etc.
If you don't want to or are not able/ready to add to the flock at this time it is kinder to "break" the broodiness than to leave her setting with no hope of hatching chicks at the end as brooding is very hard on them. There are several ways to break a broody, and many threads on the subject here on BYC -- I favor the "broody buster" which is a simple wire bottom cage that is raised (on blocks, etc) to allow for air flow from beneath. Food, water and hen go in this cage - - no bedding - - leave her there for a few days then let her out, if she goes back to the nest to be broody put her back in the cage, if not she has snapped out of the broody state of mind and can be left out.

Depends on if you want her to hatch eggs for sure or just want her to stop being broody?.
I have a couple hens same buffs that have gone broody I go out twice a day and pick them up and put them out of the nesting box and remove eggs from them. A few times they get upset and little pecks on my hand not a big deal but after about a week of them not getting to sit on anything and moving them out of the boxes they stop sitting and few days later sometimes a week or two later they start laying again and stop sitting. Having her sit on anything like golf balls will only tell her it's okay to sit and she will stay that way for a lot longer.
So with respect its all up to you as to if you want her to hatch some or just want her to stop trying to be broody.
Remember this won't be a forever fix she will likely try being broody again later.