Chicken Psychology 101: Solo Chickens?

[Shadrach]

Do not be lumping me in with "We Humans".

Now that is funny!
I'm not keen on the species either...

 

[Angelita]

Hey, I see this is a bit of an old post, but I have a solo indoor chicken, she’s 5 months now and I’ve had her since she was a week old. I definitely support your decision, and while in most situations it’s better to have more than one, it’s possible for them to be just as happy with a human “flock”. I’ve been around chickens all my life and have honestly never seen one happier than my girl. It’s just really important that you spend tons of time with her and make her feel like she’s part of the family. I try to make sure I am spending quality time with her every waking hour that I can. It also helps to get them from a young age so that they can imprint on you. My girl really thinks I’m her mom, and my boyfriend and I take turns playing with her and cuddling while the other is at work. Also, because they would normally sleep with their flock (which I can’t do because she’ll poop everywhere or I’ll roll over onto her!) I just put a light in her coop that is on a timer so that if I’m not up early enough, she’ll at least have a bit of light and not be so lonely in a dark coop. Finally, oddly enough, she loves to play with cat toys or anything made out of a shiny material... it keeps her occupied. Good luck!

 

[adstowe]

I kinda skimmed through this thread, so it may have been mentioned somewhere in here already, but I'd be willing to bet these "solo chickens" that weren't happy being placed in a flock were probably unable to integrate successfully because they lacked the social skills that they would have developed if they were allowed to live with their own kind. That's not the same as naturally preferring human companionship. Compound that with the fact that introducing an individual hen to a backyard sized flock is generally the most difficult integration and...

 

[Angelita]

I kinda skimmed through this thread, so it may have been mentioned somewhere in here already, but I'd be willing to bet these "solo chickens" that weren't happy being placed in a flock were probably unable to integrate successfully because they lacked the social skills that they would have developed if they were allowed to live with their own kind. That's not the same as naturally preferring human companionship. Compound that with the fact that introducing an individual hen to a backyard sized flock is generally the most difficult integration and...

No doubt, it is very difficult to reintegrate a hen into a flock, but sometimes there are also situations where people “foster” hens when they might otherwise be killed or be in a bad situation... not to say that killing them for food is necessarily wrong, but it’s still nice to give her a chance at a full life where she may not have EVERYTHING she needs like social interactions with her own kind 100% of the time, but at least she may have 90-99% of the care she needs. My chicken is still young, but her previous owner didn’t have the resources to take care of her, and was going to rid of her early on. I’m not saying that it’s always the best choice to keep a solo chicken, but there are ways to provide really great care with lots of hard work and dedication. It’s not easy, and a lot of people have a hard time. Admittedly, I also agree that it’s important for hens to have a real flock where they can flourish, but there are ways to still give a solo chicken some interaction that can suffice. Also, not that a living creature should ever have to settle, I think every life is entitled to a full experience, but it’s still better than living in the poor conditions that a lot of inexperienced or uninformed people provide to their flock. That’s how I got my girl, and there are a lot of factors that made me choose to keep her solo. I have no doubt that if she were under normal conditions in the beginning, she would’ve been fine in a flock, but that doesn’t mean she can’t have a great experience with a substitute “flock”. Plus, I believe that what’s natural isn’t always the only way to go about things. If someone is able to provide exceptional care for their hen, even if she is “solo”, then why not? I say “solo” because it is possible, even in nature, for individuals of different species to become like family. I’ve come to almost “understand” my girl if you will, and our relationship is really strong. I say this objectively, if I really didn’t think so, I wouldn’t add it. My family is her flock, she is clearly comfortable and content with us, and is able to “voice” her needs as she pleases. It does take a lot of work to truly care for a solo hen, and it’s definitely not for any old person who just thinks they’re a “cool pet”... but it certainly can be done.

 

[Mischief]

Over the past year, I've been doing a lot of reading. There doesn't seem to be much research put forward into solo chickens raised from hatching and their longevity, general health, temperament differences or happiness in comparison to chickens raised in flocks.

I just can't help but still wonder about it, since we take other animals hard wired to live in herds/packs in the wild and, in so many situations, with properly attentive owners, these animals are just fine- they're considered some of our greatest partners across history. Quantifying 'happiness' in an animal is hard for a lot of people to agree upon, too, it seems- health is the baseline, of course, but animals definitely have unique personalities. How can you tell if one is happier than another, or if one is simply more docile by nature?

I'm still on the fence about it, but I do truly believe there are happy solo chickens out there- and wondering about "what if that chicken could have had a better life" is sort of the same as wondering if anyone could have had a better childhood. The answer is "probably" but it doesn't mean it was necessarily bad, either.

I forgot about this topic for a while, but I do still read these forums. I wanted to say thank you for posting, even if this is an old topic! I do still think about it often, even considering it for a subject of research sometimes... but, I doubt I'm qualified for such things, and unless I've done enough research to be assured of myself, I guess I just don't have confidence in myself to take on something so many people consider a "bad idea".

 

[LJoWilly]

Just wanted to add my experience with my current situation. I rescued an 8 week old chicken on May 1st as her flock mates were killed by a coon. I did the whole quarantine, then the slow process of looking but don't touch forever. Put her on the roost at night, next morning the bigger girls tried to kill her literally. When they were out free ranging, the older girls would actively search for her and chase her.
So, GiGi, my house chicken sleeps inside and is turned out during the day next to the chicken run. Honestly, she is kindve an independent hen. She wants to be around the other girls on her terms. When she sees us come home from work, she runs to greet us, then follows us into the house. She actually enjoys being inside. On stormy days she stays in, and sleeps on our bed. Here are some pics of GiGi, and hopefully this fall when I am on vacation I can actually get her integrated. But for now, things are good.

 

[HennyPenny44]

My husband's coworker had a pet chicken for 2 years. It was a golden comet and spent the warmer months outdoors in just a coop with no run and in the winter, it lived inside. It never knew the company of a chicken. Well, long story short, this coworker got very ill and ended up in the hospital in intensive care for a month. Even though someone was supposedly taking care of the chicken while he was in the hospital, he came home to a dead chicken that prior to that, was apparently laying an egg a day and was in good health. I know those hybrid chickens die earlier but my husband and I suspect it died of loneliness. The coworker, soon after he got out of the hospital, got himself another golden comet outdoor/house chicken. To each his own but after watching the way my chickens interact, I feel like I would be denying them their natural instinct to be part of a flock, talking to each other in chicken talk, dustbathing together, eating together, etc. I'm no substitute for another chicken plus watching chickens interact is so entertaining. My chickens remind me of pet parakeets I had as a child. I had 2 when one suddenly died. The surviving one started pulling out its feathers and died from what I believed was a broken heart. Unless it's more of a solitary type animal or one that enjoys mainly human company, I wouldn't keep a single animal.

 

[Mischief]

Just wanted to add my experience with my current situation. I rescued an 8 week old chicken on May 1st as her flock mates were killed by a coon. I did the whole quarantine, then the slow process of looking but don't touch forever. Put her on the roost at night, next morning the bigger girls tried to kill her literally. When they were out free ranging, the older girls would actively search for her and chase her.
So, GiGi, my house chicken sleeps inside and is turned out during the day next to the chicken run. Honestly, she is kindve an independent hen. She wants to be around the other girls on her terms. When she sees us come home from work, she runs to greet us, then follows us into the house. She actually enjoys being inside. On stormy days she stays in, and sleeps on our bed. Here are some pics of GiGi, and hopefully this fall when I am on vacation I can actually get her integrated. But for now, things are good.

What a beautiful hen! Love that color.
I hope integration goes to plan and everyone settles in comfortably by/in fall!

My husband's coworker had a pet chicken for 2 years. It was a golden comet and spent the warmer months outdoors in just a coop with no run and in the winter, it lived inside. It never knew the company of a chicken. Well, long story short, this coworker got very ill and ended up in the hospital in intensive care for a month. Even though someone was supposedly taking care of the chicken while he was in the hospital, he came home to a dead chicken that prior to that, was apparently laying an egg a day and was in good health. I know those hybrid chickens die earlier but my husband and I suspect it died of loneliness. The coworker, soon after he got out of the hospital, got himself another golden comet outdoor/house chicken. To each his own but after watching the way my chickens interact, I feel like I would be denying them their natural instinct to be part of a flock, talking to each other in chicken talk, dustbathing together, eating together, etc. I'm no substitute for another chicken plus watching chickens interact is so entertaining. My chickens remind me of pet parakeets I had as a child. I had 2 when one suddenly died. The surviving one started pulling out its feathers and died from what I believed was a broken heart. Unless it's more of a solitary type animal or one that enjoys mainly human company, I wouldn't keep a single animal.

Something sort of similar happened with our/my mother's most recent batch, the one I think I mentioned in the OP. We had 3, and after about a decade one of them died (we suspect from old? she was getting pretty decrepit, and they were outside chickens). Well, mom thought since there were two left they would be fine together, since that's what people say you should buy in groups of 3 for, but one of the other 2 did just about that same thing- got depressed and just kind of gave up and died of what we can only figure was sadness.

After that, with there only being one chicken left alone, we brought her inside and dedicated a lot of attention to her to make sure she wasn't lonely, and lo and behold she is still alive today, about 4 or 5 years after all that. She sure looks like one old chicken, but she started laying eggs again every rare once in a while about a year or so ago! And they aren't even weird eggs, haha.

I was just thinking, based on a couple of solo chickens I've had via circumstance in the past, if raising one that way from hatching wouldn't be okay too. With domestication, I wonder if it's the same argument as dogs (how dogs play, is it unfair to have only 1 dog and no other dogs to form a real pack?) and eventually why wouldn't we have chickens that are at least fine with being solo among humans. So many people seem to think not, though, so we're probably not there yet...

But then, stories about your husband's coworker sort of make me think, "Well gosh, other people are doing it, would I really be so awful to try too?"

I guess I just want to be absolutely sure I'm not being bad to an animal- that's the most important thing to me, so if there's so much doubt, well... you know?

 

[Frizzle_]

Ive had experience with single chicks. So if you do get a single chicken what I recommend is getting one that has never had other chickens around it (one that hatched but it was by its self, ect) because it will be more likely to thrive without other chickens. You could also rescue a chicken. Also if you don't want a ton of dust I recommend getting a true bantam breed like (my absolute favorite chicken breed ever) semara chickens or something small like that maybe even a silkie. I really hope this helps but be careful to do a ton of research before you get a single chicken and have fun with your house chicken.