I only ask because I originally had two buff orps, who slept cuddled up together in a single nestbox and were the best of friends, and I suppose actually may have been sisters. They stuck together like glue, even to the exclusion of their bluebelle companion who made up the threesome as the poor little 'odd one out'.
Sadly though, one of the BOs was quite seriously feather-picking and beginning to turn cannibal on her her sister (who actually didn't seem to mind at all!), so we had to give her back to the breeder we got her from.
After she went, the remaining BO seemed to get skinny and listless, and she eventually caught CRD because she was so thin. Having now fully recovered, she's back to eating and drinking well and seems almost like a different hen. She's begun laying today and seems to have finally pallied up with the bluebelle, although not to the same extent as she did with her sister.
Is it possible that she missed her friend/sister and pined herself poorly over her? Or was all that a bit of a co-incidence and perhaps she was simply coming down with some illness all along? Am I giving this hen too much credit for emotional complexity here?!
Sadly though, one of the BOs was quite seriously feather-picking and beginning to turn cannibal on her her sister (who actually didn't seem to mind at all!), so we had to give her back to the breeder we got her from.
After she went, the remaining BO seemed to get skinny and listless, and she eventually caught CRD because she was so thin. Having now fully recovered, she's back to eating and drinking well and seems almost like a different hen. She's begun laying today and seems to have finally pallied up with the bluebelle, although not to the same extent as she did with her sister.
Is it possible that she missed her friend/sister and pined herself poorly over her? Or was all that a bit of a co-incidence and perhaps she was simply coming down with some illness all along? Am I giving this hen too much credit for emotional complexity here?!