For How Long Can a Lonely Hen Be Lonely?

[OhZark Biddies]

Did you notice any particular behaviors that indicated her being unhappy?

Signs of an unhappy/ lonely chicken:

• dying her feathers black and listening to death metal music
• hanging out behind the coop and smoking cigarettes with the cat
• getting a beak piercing
• roosting on the bottom bar, even though there's no one on the top bar
• snorting oyster shell
• laying square eggs
• getting a tattoo of Colonel Sanders
• playing "chicken" with cars in the drive way
• hanging out by the mail box, drinking malt liqueur and listening to polka music

 

[Henrik Petersson]

Signs of an unhappy/ lonely chicken:

• hanging out by the mail box, drinking malt liqueur and listening to polka music

There once was a lone Mille Fleur
Who tried to keep up de rigeur
But at last, she broke down
With tears in her down
She drowned her pain in malt liqueur

 

[MissChick@dee]

I had a lone survivor. She was alone for 4 months while I waited to get chicks in spring so by the time I was able to bring the chicks out it was more like 6. I spent a lot of time with her (spoiled) we have a incredible bond. She was lonely it was sad. I introduced the young ones slowly until they were similar in size. The babies are 8 months old now my alfa hen is large and in charge and is a happy chicken. If you spend anytime with your chickens you’ll see their personalities. You’ll get to understand their language. With out flock mates they just seem lost.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Signs of an unhappy/ lonely chicken:

• dying her feathers black and listening to death metal music
• hanging out behind the coop and smoking cigarettes with the cat
• getting a beak piercing
• roosting on the bottom bar, even though there's no one on the top bar
• snorting oyster shell
• laying square eggs
• getting a tattoo of Colonel Sanders
• playing "chicken" with cars in the drive way
• hanging out by the mail box, drinking malt liqueur and listening to polka music

What !!!!! TOO funny!!!

 

[Henrik Petersson]

I had a lone survivor. She was alone for 4 months while I waited to get chicks in spring so by the time I was able to bring the chicks out it was more like 6. I spent a lot of time with her (spoiled) we have a incredible bond. She was lonely it was sad. I introduced the young ones slowly until they were similar in size. The babies are 8 months old now my alfa hen is large and in charge and is a happy chicken. If you spend anytime with your chickens you’ll see their personalities. You’ll get to understand their language. With out flock mates they just seem lost.

Interesting! If I may, I'd like you to elaborate a little bit on how you notice that they seem lost.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Interesting! If I may, I'd like you to elaborate a little bit on how you notice that they seem lost.

Sure...with the new flock mates she has one especially that’s her buddy. The behaviors she shows now are beak to beak pecking at the ground-sharing and clucking with her buddy. Great interest in showing the others where to find goodies....grapes berries etc. watching and clucking while they dust bathe. Prior behaviors were napping a lot, being needy of my attention. Not wandering and scratching she’d perch and be
Less active.

 

[Henrik Petersson]

Sure...with the new flock mates she has one especially that’s her buddy. The behaviors she shows now are beak to beak pecking at the ground-sharing and clucking with her buddy. Great interest in showing the others where to find goodies....grapes berries etc. watching and clucking while they dust bathe. Prior behaviors were napping a lot, being needy of my attention. Not wandering and scratching she’d perch and be
Less active.

Personally I believe that loss of activity level is a good sign of poor mental health in an animal.

Edit: I read it in a book by Konrad Lorenz, if memory serves me right.

 

[aart]

Personally I believe that loss of activity level is a good sign of poor mental health in an animal.

That pretty much sums it up.
Physical and 'mental' health go hand in hand.. can be a 'which came first' scenario.
One of my favorite words of advice is in @centrarchid 's signature:
"Make every effort to understand your chicken's biology and the environment that supports it."

Vocabulary for animals vs humans distorts this discussion...as does anthropomorphism.
Hard to gauge and accurately 'name' an animals 'emotional' state.
All animals, and humans, need stimulation...what kind of stimulation they need will vary with individuals. Understanding an individual animals needs will carry a long way, substituting(projecting) human needs in caring for animals can be disastrous.

Title of thread shcould read... how long can a lone hen thrive.
Meh, yeah...semantics can be important.

Always enjoy your posts @Henrik Petersson ...thoughtful and well articulated.

 

[Henrik Petersson]

Meh, yeah...semantics can be important.

Yup. As you may have guessed, I like to delve into the ins and outs of language. So I don't mind my threads taking the odd detour into semantic territory. And it doesn't bother me one whiff if I get language policed.

Always enjoy your posts @Henrik Petersson ...thoughtful and well articulated.

Thanks!

 

[centrarchid]

Activity is a good sign so long as not simply repetitive like going back and forth along a wall. It has been a while since I kept a hen in isolation for any length of time. What I considered good was isolated hen would come to me when wanting something in particular, but would not be distressed when I left. Other behaviors such as hen soliciting mating behavior indicates we have species ID issues.