Chicken died today-left behind her best friend

[Benanjoe]

Hi all,
I have a heavy heart today. I got 2 Speckled Sussex chicks back in April to add to my flock of 4 Buff Orpingtons. They have all been together now successfully for a couple of months. Today when we were at the park, one of out speckled Sussex was killed by our dog. They somehow jumped fence that separates our yards and our dog, who is generally very good with our chickens, was in the backyard. We have a camera of our driveway and it caught some of the footage of our backyard. It showed that our dog spent 20 minutes with them until accidentally trampling one of them out of excitement. I am so heartbroken. I have since moved the chicken fencing so that they no longer share a fence. Now we have our girl Doris left without her sister, and 4 chickens that are above her in the pecking order. She is the lone speckled sussex with 4 buff orps.
Her and her sister have been at the bottom of the pecking order since introduced to the flock and they always stuck together. They had their own perch in the coop that they snuggled up together on and were just overall always alongside one another. My heart broke when I went to check on them tonight and she was all alone on her perch. My question is, what can I do for her? Should I be worried about her? I am so sad for her.

Thank you so much for any words of wisdom

 

[rosemarythyme]

Sorry for your loss, and I'm glad you're taking steps to further separate the chickens from the dogs, just in case.

She may be off for the next few days as she adjusts to not having her friend, but should be ok as she still has the rest of the flock - even being the bottom of the pecking order means she's still a member of the group.

 

[Callender Girl]

I am so sorry for your loss and that Doris is without her sister. Watching the footage must have been horrible for you.

Your girl is probably pretty traumatized right now, but in my experience, she will eventually readjust. Animals are often more resilient than people are. Just give her some extra kindness.

 

[theoldchick]

So sorry. You can put a mirror in there for her until you find a suitable chicken buddy.

 

[Benanjoe]

Thank you all so so much for your kind and helpful words. Do you think I should definitely plan on getting her a buddy? I was already thinking about this, but would it be possible to introduce only one to the flock or would I need to get at least two more? There are some people selling pullets around her age in my area so this is doable.

 

[Benanjoe]

So sorry. You can put a mirror in there for her until you find a suitable chicken buddy.

So sorry. You can put a mirror in there for her until you find a suitable chicken buddy.

Thank you all so so much for your kind and helpful words. Do you think I should definitely plan on getting her a buddy? I was already thinking about this, but would it be possible to introduce only one to the flock or would I need to get at least two more? There are some people selling pullets around her age in my area so this is doable.

 

[theoldchick]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-integrate-your-chicken-flock-the-easy-way.63034/

 

[PepeDeSilva]

I was in the same situation a few weeks ago. Group of 5 ISA browns and 4 sapphire gems that never got along. Then all but one of the gems was killed by raccoons and I was worried she would be shut out of the group. It took a little over a week I would say but at some point she started roosting with the other birds and is doing fine now.
Yesterday was the first time one of her eggs was in the nesting box with all the others so I would keep a close eye on her but also be patient.

 

[Benanjoe]

I was in the same situation a few weeks ago. Group of 5 ISA browns and 4 sapphire gems that never got along. Then all but one of the gems was killed by raccoons and I was worried she would be shut out of the group. It took a little over a week I would say but at some point she started roosting with the other birds and is doing fine now.
Yesterday was the first time one of her eggs was in the nesting box with all the others so I would keep a close eye on her but also be patient.

Awww thank you so much for sharing this story. It is great to hear that your gem is doing well now. I hope my sweet speckled sussex finds her place with the group. She is very much to herself today, but eating and acting normally otherwise.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thank you all so so much for your kind and helpful words. Do you think I should definitely plan on getting her a buddy? I was already thinking about this, but would it be possible to introduce only one to the flock or would I need to get at least two more? There are some people selling pullets around her age in my area so this is doable.

So here's the issue. Integrating 1 bird is the most difficult integration. But if you add 2 birds, they're just going to stick with each other, so you didn't "solve" anything.

I would say as long as you 1) want more birds and 2) have the space to quarantine (if you wish) and properly integrate them, then sure, go for it, but don't get more birds just to try and give her a friend.