Can a chicken be kept alone?

[KloekieKapokkie]

Hello

My oldest rooster died yesterday, and now we only have one chicken (also a rooster) left. I am just lost on what to do now. I don’t want him to be lonely and unhappy, but if we get more chickens the cycle of having to get more and more will never end.

I love him and don't really want to rehome him, but if that's the only option that's left to make him happy I could try to find a place for him.

I was thinking of making him and indoor chicken, or at least make it possible for him to go outdoors or indoors to us when he pleases. He does like people and he loves cuddling. When he sees one of us walking towards him he starts titbitting for us, so I hope that means he'd be happy being indoors with us.

I'd say the only issues with making him an indoors chicken is the chance that he still won't be happy, since it's only me and my mom and we're both kinda busy. We also have 2 dogs and a cat which are fine with him as far as we know. We've kept the dogs away from the chickens since the oldest chicken that passed would always attack the dogs, but the alive one doesn't attack anyone. Our dogs seem to be fine with him too but I'd have to make sure of it before comfortably making him an indoor chicken.

I just need advice on what to do. Should I see how he feels being an indoor chicken for a week or 2 first and then decide?

 

[NatJ]

Should I see how he feels being an indoor chicken for a week or 2 first and then decide?

This is probably the best choice, to try it for a bit and see.

As you already know, chickens usually do better when they live in a flock with other chickens. But sometimes there are situations when a chicken must live alone, and some of them do seem to do okay, so it's probably worth trying in this particular case and see how it goes.

As a practical matter, you will have to deal with chicken poop and the dust that chickens make, and you will have to check what he might do in the house that could be a problem (fly onto the kitchen counter and make a mess of the food? Go behind furniture and get stuck? drown in the toilet? etc.)

 

[KloekieKapokkie]

This is probably the best choice, to try it for a bit and see.

As you already know, chickens usually do better when they live in a flock with other chickens. But sometimes there are situations when a chicken must live alone, and some of them do seem to do okay, so it's probably worth trying in this particular case and see how it goes.

As a practical matter, you will have to deal with chicken poop and the dust that chickens make, and you will have to check what he might do in the house that could be a problem (fly onto the kitchen counter and make a mess of the food? Go behind furniture and get stuck? drown in the toilet? etc.)

Thank you, I think I'll do that too. Also thank you for telling me about the practical stuff too! I didn't think of the fact that he could get stuck behind furniture or drown in the toilet. I'll keep an eye on him while he's indoors, and close the bathroom doors too.

 

[cubalaya]

Some game breeds are housed alone. They do fine

 

[Callender Girl]

I am sorry that your boy lost his companion. I'm glad you're getting some practical considerations regarding indoor chickens.

Dottie has been a lone indoor chicken for six years. I tried to integrate her into other flocks but because she had been harassed by larger, more aggressive meat birds that were housed with her at the farm store, she is terrified of other chickens.

One chicken can make a LOT of messes -- poop, feathers, dander. Keeping an indoor chicken is a lot of work.

But the most frequent objection people will give is that chickens are flock animals that need company. That's true. It's also true, at least in our case, that the "flock" can be a person, dog or cat. Dottie is perfectly comfortable with all three and has been known to curl up on the sofa with her person and "her" dog.

Dottie's wire dog kennel is in the dining room, so she's in the center of the house and can be part of the household activity while still being safe.

Best wishes for whatever you decide.