What do I do with one female chicken?

Ibraheem125

Hatching
5 Years
Oct 18, 2014
1
0
7
Okay, so I got 1male and 1 female chick when they were 2 weeks old. They loved to stay together and had a lot of fun together. They were like brother and sister in a way!

They are now 4 months old and are living in my garden. They love coming out of their coop and walking around our garden. Unfortunately one day my mom let them out and 2 white huskies got into our garden and started chasing the chickens. The female chick ran into the other garden however the male chicken tried to go back into its coop but the dogs hit him away from it. He tried to jump onto his coop and over the wall into the neighbours garden but the dogs dragged him down and bit him on his back. My mom was upstairs and she heard the chickens scream, she looked out of the window and saw the two dogs attacking him. She ran as fast as she could downstairs and when she did try to scare away the dogs they wouldn't listen until she hit them. Once they went the male chicken ran into its coop and sat there for a few minutes then he realised he got bit and came out of his coop, and after a few seconds he passed away:'(. My sister brought back the female chicken and she was very sad. We buried him in our garden and now the only remains left of him are his feathers scattered around infront of his coop. After we buried him the female chick has been looking for him ever since. She has been running up and down the coop every time someone walked into the garden.

She has been all on her own now without her best friend. We are not sure what to do now as we are new to this chicken business. We know for a fact she is very lonely as she is not as active anymore.

What is the best possible thing for us to do now? Get her a new male friend or another female? And how to get them to get along with each other?

Thank you guys so much for sharing your time with us because we are all heart broken and I'm sure she is too.
Every comment would be very helpful!

Thanks a lot!

Ibraheem
 
that's so sad!!! :( a couple months ago, i had 2 chickens leftover from 10 that got eaten by animals after a coon opened the coop one night. Well, the bother ran off (that's a first...i've never had one run away
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) well, i searched for hours, but couldn't find them in our many acres. One came back the next morning, and after a little searching i found feathers of the other. The one chicken was really lonely for about 6 day, and we went and got 2 more hens to keep her company.

Ok, sorry, that took a while to get to the point. :) I think you should get another hen or 2. Chickens are flock animals. I would get hens not a rooster. As the boy gets older, and starts crowing and mating, with only one hen, he will mate her so much that her back will start getting bare and she will be pretty tired. also, if you get 2, get her from a different place so that the don't totally beat yours up. Good luck! so sorry that happened :(
 
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First let me say, sorry for your loss. Your chicken will be confused for a while. If it were me, I'd get another female close to her age, and do it soon before she gets used to the idea of being alone. I just think integration would be easier while things are still unsettled. She's most likely not going to welcome any new bird easily, as that's just how chickens are. If you can have them in side by side pens in the coop for awhile, that might help. Just know that whenever you put them together, there will be squabbles until they get their pecking order settled. The reason I suggest a female is that they're getting close to breeding age, and one rooster with one hen can be a bit much for the hen. Not always, but the potential is there. Chickens are a flock animal and she'll be happier with a companion.
 
I would introduce just one more female to start with and once they have bonded, add a couple more. Introducing one chicken to multiple others can be risky for the solitary bird; those who are already bonded will gang up on the one.
 

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