Can chickens die of loneliness?

[silkieroo]

Quote:
I have to agree with this. Maybe not all chickens will but i think it is possible. They are flock animals and without a flock they do not function well. To the OP i would suggest getting her a friend.... even if she won't die of loneliness without one, she sure will be ALOT happier with one!!

ETA Sorry for your loss!!

And for your hen.

 

[colebarnhart]

Try a mirror

 

[serenityNH]

I'm so sorry for you and your chicken

Maybe animals don't necessarily 'die' from loneliness but maybe it's possible they just give up on living. I have had several animals die shortly after their companion did. Not to sound depressing but after my grandfather died my grandmother (who was relatively healthy) said she didn't want to live anymore because she was so heartbroken, shortly after she died. So maybe they can't actually die of loneliness but maybe it pushes them along- whose to say?

I agree with everyone else about getting her a new friend. Good Luck and best wishes!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I agree. Die of the loneliness itself? Maybe not, but I do believe they can give up the will to live; making them more susceptiable to dying from any number of causes.

 

[cottoncandyx]

I see now, the stress and what not can make it more likely to die.

I fear the worse for my chicken, but my mom said she's going to buy her a friend the next time the market opens. She refuses to eat a lot and she didn't even want to run in the yard. She's having bad diarrhea and has trouble sleeping. I'm letting her sleep on my lap now cause she cries when she's alone and she's having trouble sleeping and she keeps breathing very hard with her mouth open as if she's hyperventilating. So I'm hoping she can hold on a couple more days until we get her a new friend!

 

[ClareScifi]

I went to a talk by a chicken expert and asked this same question, because I have just 2 chickens.

The presenter said that if one chicken were to die or disappear, I would become a surrogate "chicken buddy" to the remaining chicken. Sure enough, she's right.

My chicken's best friend, her sister chicken, has gone broody under the house. Granted, I think my chicken might realize her sister is still alive, because we can see her beak from time to time, pecking at food under the house.

The nonbroody chicken is trying to entertain herself and succeeding pretty well. I thought she would be far more morose than she is.

However, today I was working in the kitchen and didn't hear her come in the house. I had the door open, because it was a nice day. I turned around and almost stepped on her foot! Because she is missing her chicken playmate, I have become her pal, and she sticks closely... Such a cutie!

If my other chicken dies, I don't know what we'll do. I hesitate to introduce another chicken, due to the pecking order and possibility of introducing disease. When I thought the other chicken had disappeared last fall, a nice woman did offer me some of her chickens, to ward off the remaining chicken's loneliness, but luckily the other chicken was just hiding under the house, in the early stages of broodiness.