Death of a chicken

[Chezzy]

Hi all,
I've had 2 happy pet chickens for about 3 years, one of them has pushed its insides out with an egg and I unfortunately found her dead in the nestbix
Now do I risk stressing the other one by getting her a new mate , or shall I keep her on her own ,
She's a bovan brown
Any advice appreciated

 

[MoonDragonRoo]

Awww, poor little girl! I'm sorry to hear that!

Chickens are social creatures, so I would imagine it would be worth the risk. But I'm sure someone much wiser can give you a better answer. Good luck and I'm sorry about the loss of your pet.

 

[Chezzy]

ThankYou moon dragon , she was a lovely hen called Winnie , lavender her mate doesn't looked stressed , so want to do the right thing

 

[chickens really]

No.....If these are pet Chickens?? Like lap Chickens? No....Do not introduce another Bird...Enjoy the ones that remain...Chickens are hard to introduce due to pecking order and sometimes never accept new members....

Cheers!

 

[Isaac 0]

Depending on how aggressive they will be with each other is the thing to look out for.As @MoonDragonRoo said they are social creatures i would get another one and see how it works out.There are plenty of links on properly introducing hens to each other.Ive introduced many chicken to my pet chicken flock worked fine

https://poultrykeeper.com/general-chickens/introducing-new-chickens/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

 

[ejcrist]

I'd get at least two more at a minimum, and the more the merrier. I can't imagine a hen living all by herself. Think of it this way, there should only be minimal integration issues if you get several that haven't been raised together, or came from a large flock since they'll all be newbies to each other. Of course they'll have to establish a pecking order but that's par for the course with chickens and an ongoing thing anyway. I have 93 at the moment and my most senior layer flock of 26 have been working through issues since the day I got 'em; there's always something going on between the roosts, or who get's to occupy the nest box, etc.. If everyone seemed content all day I'd think something was wrong. Just my opinion, but better they live in their natural social state than lead a boring and lonely life.

 

[bekachickenborn]

Hi all,
I've had 2 happy pet chickens for about 3 years, one of them has pushed its insides out with an egg and I unfortunately found her dead in the nestbix
Now do I risk stressing the other one by getting her a new mate , or shall I keep her on her own ,
She's a bovan brown
Any advice appreciated

I lost 2 of my 4 to raccoons in June. I'm sorry for your loss. It stinks when you lose birds. I remember going up and seeing the 2 remaining birds and how it depressed me seeing just the two of them. So I got five more. Lol. You have to quarantine, and do slow introductions. They will squabble when you put them together. But that's the nature. They must figure out their social structure. Just keep a close watch for a week or two to make sure nobody is being bullied too badly. The transition for us was easier than expected. I'd go for it if I were you. Chickens like hangin with other chickens.

 

[Teila]

Howdy Chezzy

I am so sorry to read of your loss

I used to have 2 chickens but now I have 5; one of the reasons is because, having lost some in the past, I do not want to go through what you are now with a lonely chicken.

Cilla, my matriarch, is the remaining gal from my original two. We lost her friend Ash and she was distraught by herself so I had to rush out and buy her a friend. I do not recommend waving quarantine but because of the circumstances, I did on that occasion and introduced her and the single girl immediately. Because they were both alone and in need of company, there was very little pecking etc and that night, they roosted together.

Unfortunately, only months later, Cilla lost that friend also and was back to being alone .. another mercy dash and Brittney was welcomed and immediately introduced .. again, no real problem and they were best buds pretty quickly.

So that neither the chickens or I had to go through that again, a couple of weeks later, after quarantine this time, I introduced Dusty.

So, in my experience, if you have a lone chicken and introduce a lone chicken, the chances are that their need for company will outweigh the need to pick on each other too much.

Then, when ready, you can introduce a few more, after quarantine.

Again, I am definitely not saying that waving quarantine is a good practice and certainly would not do it now with the 5 girls I have but, at the time, it was a risk I was prepared to take.