Any advice on what to do with an old hen in a retirement coop now that her only friend just died?

[Bweis13]

Hi, my daughter and I have three coops... one regular one, a duck pen with a single Rouen drake, and a retirement coop with 2 bantams. Well, the 2 in the retirement coop are 12 years old, and one died today. The other one, a very sweet Japanese bantam, is pretty upset, so we’re trying to figure out what to do. We had previously moved them into their own coop because they were getting picked on, but there were more chickens in the big coop at the time. The large coop has 5 much younger chickens in it who all get along well, so we’re afraid to move her into there.

My husband (who knows even less about poultry than my daughter and I do) thinks we should put her in with the drake, but I saw how he treated the duck we used to have (before she got killed by a hawk.) I’m thinking he may really harass the little bantam and try to mate with her. Do ducks do that to chickens?

We do have another younger mystery bantam in the big coop, but I don’t want to move her in and have her pick on the old Japanese or have to worry about the Japanese dying and leaving the young one stuck alone in the retirement coop in case she can’t be re-introduced to the larger flock in the future.

Does anyone have any suggestions for us? Has anyone kept a single chicken in a little coop by itself successfully? Should we try to re-introduce her into the big coop since there are now fewer chickens there? Would she be ok with the drake if we moved her in there? We really love her and don’t want her to be distressed or hurt. Thanks for your help.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Don't put her with the duck. Can you put her pen next to the others? You could possibly try integrating her back with the chickens after a while. Sometimes I have to keep older birds penned for their own protection. Otherwise getting a couple of more bantam chicks may work.

 

[staceyj]

Poor girl.
You have to feel for her.
You can start with hanging a mirror and providing her with a stuffed animal that is of similar size as she and her friend were.

I would not put her in with the drake.
And I do think she could possibly be integrated with the younger flock, but it’s not something that could be done overnight.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Do NOT put her in with the drake, he'll try to mate with her and probably cause some serious damage due to differing anatomy.

For now, give her a stuffed animal, a mirror, and lots of attention. You can either keep her as a pet-style chicken, and give her lots of attention from yourselves, or try to acclimate her to the main coop. It's best not to have just 2 chickens in a group if you can avoid it.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would place her in a large dog crate or pen with food and water, and place it inside the big coop with the other chickens, so they can all see each other. That way she won’t be hurt by the drake or the big chickens, and the little babtam can stay with the big girls. It is amazing to have a 12 year old chicken. My old hens are almost 8 and 7, and I lose a couple each year.

 

[Bweis13]

Thank you all for sharing your wisdom! A mirror and stuffed animal never occurred to me! Hopefully we can find a crate and put her in the coop over the weekend. I’m sure she’s probably going to be pretty stressed out over the next few days. She and the one who died are the first chickens we ever had... they are dearly loved. I’d be tempted to try to bring her inside, but we have a one year old beagle/lab puppy. He’d probably stress her out even more.

I’m glad to hear my instincts about the drake were good. He’s such a jerk! Lol!

 

[Bweis13]

I would place her in a large dog crate or pen with food and water, and place it inside the big coop with the other chickens, so they can all see each other. That way she won’t be hurt by the drake or the big chickens, and the little babtam can stay with the big girls. It is amazing to have a 12 year old chicken. My old hens are almost 8 and 7, and I lose a couple each year.

Are your chickens free ranged? Ours never have been because we worry too much, but the ducks are when my husband’s outside. That’s how the hawk got the female. It’s amazing how attached we get to our animals! We had a bad experience with a raccoon a few years ago, and the kids were heartbroken when one of our hens got eaten. (Sigh.)

 

[Bweis13]

Broody Japanese bantam and Leghorn bantam with buff Japanese chicks

• Bweis13
• Feb 19, 2014

. Here they were in their prime.

 

[Bweis13]

Update: We got a stuffed animal and a mirror for our old hen. She seems to really like the mirror and will hopefully warm up to the stuffed animal. It’s a white duck similar in size to our hen that just died. We do hope to try to integrate her back into the flock, but we may have to wait until the deep snow is gone. All of the chickens tend to stay inside of the coop when there’s deep snow, so it would be difficult to keep an eye on her. So far, so good! She’s such a sweet chicken. If she seems stressed out we may try to move her inside for a while if the puppy doesn’t cause problems. Thanks again for the great advice, everybody!