Behavior after a sudden death in the flock - Do they mourn?

[kaufman78]

I have a small mixed flock of 9 hens, all of them are a year old (give or take a few weeks). I lost one of my girls, I believe to a crop impaction, a few days ago. She (Lovey) was 1 of 2 R.I.W. in the flock. I have kept a close eye on all of the girls to make sure we don't have other issues going on. I noticed that my second R.I.W. (Dovey) has distanced herself from the rest of the flock more than usual (the 2 where inseparable and stayed to themselves most of the time). She's eating (not as much as usual), drinking, everything else seems normal. I noticed a slight shiver in her legs when I picked her up yesterday. I have separated her from the rest of the flock, but am unsure if I should have. She wondered over to their run last night before I brought her in for the night, wanting to be with the other girls.
Could she be lonely? Or should I be concerned about my whole flock?

 

[seminolewind]

If you've had these hens together for about a year without adding another chicken, it's probably not contagious. I would put her back.
I have found that my silkies and my Polish seem to look for their flock mate for a while. Especially my silkie rooster. He's seen the most leave and he would just stand at the pen door and stare out.

 

[aart]

They don't have big enough brains to 'mourn' like a human would mourn,
but they are creatures of habit and don't like change.
So I'm sure the fact that it's companion is now gone will have an impact on it's behavior, but it will soon adjust, best to leave her with the flock...separating her will cause more problems.