Adopting chicks?

[justduckie]

I have one hen left from last year - thanks to something getting into my coop during a snow storm

- and I recently got 6 new chicks. I feel like my hen is very lonely and would like to bring her in with my chicks. Would she accept them or would she kill them? I feel so bad for her because she looks so sad not having anyone anymore.

She is a partridge rock.

 

[silkiechicken]

Maybe you can let her see them but I wouldn't put her with them. When the babies grow up, they will have to all establish pecking order with her, and at this point, if they don't look like food to her, she could do serous damage to the babies if she tried to establish order with them now. Visual but no physical contact will help out when it comes to integrating them later on.

 

[jjthink]

In this case, I wonder about maybe getting her an adult feathered friend? I know from being down to just 1 how utterly lonely and sad they can be. It's heartbreaking. When my roo lost his best friend, he was inconsolable. I went on a mad search for a friend for him - every day seemed an eternity, watching him so somber with no apparent reason for living....
JJ

 

[justduckie]

Quote:
I've thought about this, thinking maybe about getting on Free Cycle and see if I could find her a friend. I go out every day and hold her for a while so she knows she hasn't been forgotten. She purrs and coos (well, as close to it as a chicken can get) and it just breaks my heart when I have to lock her back into the empty coop all by herself. But we still have too much snow on the ground to let her out and I'm afraid that what ever got the other chickens will get her, too.

 

[sweetshoplady]

JustDuckie, I have one hen left from last year. I have five 7 wk old chicks. Silkie Chicken is absolutely right about no contact. My sweet hen will peck these babies if she can get her beak through the wire 1/2" opening if that. And its scary. I am waiting til they get a little bigger. Closer in size to her.

My hen usually hangs out with the horses. Except on the days that I lock her up if I see something like 2 neighbor dogs coming over for a visit.

Good luck, I hope you can find an adult friend for her in the mean time.