Do Chickens Mourn ?

[nanawendy]

This has been an interesting dialog. On my post last night in Emergencies, I spoke of the need to act quickly. as she had a bleeding prolapse. When I took her from the coop to isolate her the others started their protest. My thought is ... partly because she is ALWAYS first to roost and partly because I took her in front of them at nightfall. I surely appreciate all the support and insights. I learn so much on BYC. Maybe some of my thoughts were projection. As for the naysayers... ,I grew up on a small ranch and live on a Percheron horse ranch. We have a dear old coot for a landlord. He is defiantly of the mind that the strong survive and let the week die. He and my dad have taught me alot of how the world of nature turns. The guy even let a colt die because it couldn't nurse as the colt had a parrot mouth.I saw that mother when-nee(sp) for days. It was heart breaking. I say this to illustrate that I am aware of the different views< and can appreciate all. That's what makes this world so amazing. But I'm glad I'm on this side if the debate.

Thanks to all who were helpful in OUR loss. The girls got some warmed Turkey Soup that I was going to freeze, Homemade of course.

 

[wbruder17]

I think chickens DEFINITELY know when something has changed. Mine have their own specific "buddies". They have certain chickie friends that hang out together more then they hang with others. Mine have sort of paired or tripled up. 2 ALWAYS sleep together. 3 ALWAYS run out of the coop together to free range. 2 others eat and perch together. They groom their buddies and freak out if one is let out to free range and the other isn't.

The only reason some can go and others stay is because I have pheasants also that can't be let out, so I can't just open the door all the time. I open it, and my big girls can go out. The banties usually have to stay in because I think they are easier prey and I let the rooster out with the big girls to help with protection. But they KNOW each other and certainly form bonds.

 

[The Chickens' Maid]

Our chickens definitely mourn. We had one hen die who was our head hen's friend. The rooster mourned for a while, and the head hen (Goldie) mourned for a long time (wanting more attention, whining to me, sitting around). Eventually our little Lakenvelder pullet befriended her, and they would sit together and eat together until Goldie cheered up.
Our rooster has mourned both hens that we have lost, and he is always worried when one of the hens is sick.
We also have a brother/sister pair who both became very dejected when they were separated for a few months. I put them back together in their own little coop, and they brightened up considerably. Were one of them do die, I have no doubt that the other one would mourn and be very depressed.

 

[annie3001]

Quote:
what a darling sweet story. I have a cochin (we call her baby) who too waits for me to place her on the roost (coop too). All the rest of the flock, will go in,,, she will make sweet noises, and waits for me. I kiss her beak. she is trully a sweet chicken. Sounds like what you had too, and yet another's being sweet on you. I too think they (all animals actually ) have feelings. They just have to.

 

[Possum Manor West]

I was worried about my rooster while I was at work. He just did not look right that morning. I called a neighbor who has chickens to go down and check on him. She called to say the rooster had died, but she could not take him out of the nest because two of the hens were sitting with him. When she tried to take him out, they pecked and jumped at her, so she left him until I came home. I went into the coop, and the hens allowed me to take him out. I think they are much smarter than we think.

Kathie

 

[annie3001]

Quote:
oh my so sorry for your loss of your rooster.

 

[HyLinda]

After reading this thread

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=377305

I'm sure chickens experience a vast array of emotions. I know my hen, Susan comes running out to meet me whenever I go in the back yard and waits to be picked up.

 

[6chicks&aduck]

I believe they do too ,one of my 3 chicks that hatched togethr dissapeared this summer,
and the other two were always looking for her and calling for about a week

 

[Beekissed]

I don't think it has so much to do with people not noticing this phenomenon just because they don't spend as much time with their flocks as someone else....I think the capacity to feel or display emotion is specific to any one creature~whether one is more sensitive to change or not~ and more so in small groups, as the loss of even one may cause a change in the matrix of that group.

In a larger group it is less noticable or, even, there is so much more fluidity in the dynamics of the group. The pecking order is continually in flux, so individual members of the flock may not attach like they do in a smaller flock.

I think some animals are just more sensitive to change and it affects their world more, just like some people are in the same manner. I don't know that I would exactly call it "mourning" but it may very well affect the way they act for awhile until they adapt to the change.

I had to put down my dear old dog, Lucy, recently and her companion dog seemed at a loss to know what to do. He took his favorite thing~an apple~and crawled into her house, which is something you would never find him doing. He wouldn't come out. This is also not in his character...he is always eager to greet his humans. I could tell that his world, as he knew it, had completely changed and he was trying anything he could to adapt. I didn't really think of it as mourning but he did act downcast and fretful for days. Any animal will if you change their world that drastically.

In a human that is known as "grief" and I guess that is the only word we can use to describe it in animals also...there really isn't any other one word to describe that behavior~other than maybe....mourning.

 

[bellarose]

I had 3 chicks 2 were hens and one a cockerel.. well the two girls got out and got killed by a cat ... freak accident.. so sad ... well they are 6 weeks old and I didn't think they could fit through this small crack in the coop that we were going to fix this weekend .. well they got out .. so upset.. anyways .. the cockerel is acting very sad and wants to stay up in the box .. he is eating and drinking but very moppy .. he does want me to hold him and is very loving with me but just not sure if this is going to last long or if this is normal..