Heartbroken and needing advice

[slou]

I am searching for advice after a tragic incident yesterday. A rescue dog we have attacked our flock and killed three out of four of our 10 week old hens that my daugher had hatched and were living in our kitchen waiting to be integrated into our larger flock of 7 hens. The dog also killed our sweetest bird from the bigger flock, a little silkie girl that was our family favorite.
Now we are sitting watching this poor remaining hen in the kitchen who had to witness her 3 sister’s get attacked and killed and she looks so terribly lonely. We tried to put her into the bigger flock coop yesterday (they’ve been all together roaming in the yard during the day for weeks but not at night yet) but they were terrible to her and I couldn’t stay out there to manage it.
Should I try to buy another couple of chicks to keep my remaining 10 week old company? She is chirping and looking around all the time and it makes me so sad. If I get other chicks, what age? Or do I just watch her join the other flock knowing she’ll be picked on and bottom of pecking order but eventually sort it out? The thing is I’d love to replace our silkie too so was thinking maybe get one now to raise with this lonely hen but I can only find 1-3 week old silkies for sale near me.

 

[sóley]

I'm so sorry for you, always hard to lose an animal
I would think it be best to get chick in same age as her but I'm not sure tho

 

[Little Chicken Girl]

Aww...

I would get a couple chicks about her age to keep her company. Since chickens are flock animals, lonely chicks are prone to being overly stressed. To much stress often leads to skittish behavior as an adult, digestive problems and lessened immunity. Trying to integrate her with the other chickens to soon won't help her... it'll just stress her more if the others are not taking well to her.

 

[song of joy]

I'm so sorry for your loss!

10 weeks is still pretty small to add to the existing flock, especially considering she's a single bird. However, integration can be done by having her within view of the flock. Ideally, it would be best to provide a sectioned-off area of the coop and run for her, so she is roosting, eating, etc. right next to the older girls. After a couple of weeks of this, it may be helpful to partner her with the most docile of the hens from the older group, so the two of them can bond in the sectioned-off area. After a week or so, try opening up the partition to let them mingle with the rest of the flock. By this time, she'll be at least 13 weeks old. Be sure to have an extra feeder and waterer, as well as hiding places where she can escape the view of the other hens.

The 10-week old chick is too old to integrate with young chicks, so I'd recommend integrating her with the older flock, rather than adding young chicks to the mix.

If you get chicks her own age, they should be under quarantine for at least 30 days in a place that is isolated from the rest of your birds. By that time, you could have integrated her with the older girls.

 

[Chickassan]

How is your coop set up? Could you possibly partition off an isolated spot just for the lone chick? If they are tolerating her during the day making her a spot at night until she's laying age and not so apt to be bullied would be your best bet. As for replacing your silkie I'd get two birds the same age and intergrate together. If you get friends for your loner, you will have to work through your flock accepting the new bird during the day and night and there's a chance they won't get along at all so you might be borrowing trouble.

 

[MrsMistyReal]

1 st two options get rid of puppy or keep him far away from the birds. Now for little one I 've heard toys are helpful, give extra attention she's traumatised. So sorry for your loss loss

 

[georgieboy11]

I am so terribly sorry for your loss, I cannot imagine the pain you and your family are feeling. You should definitely get some friends for your survivor, she must be so lonely. I had a rooster who was the lowest rank on the pecking order, even the hens bullied him and he never fought back. He was just the sweetest little thing so I kept him in a separate cage with younger chicks and he raised them like he was the mother hen. I would say it would be better to either get chicks of the same age or younger to keep her with so she won't have to start out at the bottom of the pecking order since she's already been through so much stress. Just be sure to keep an eye on her and the chicks if you get her younger ones. Please keep us updated! I would love to see her happy with some new friends.

 

[slou]

I'm so sorry for your loss!

10 weeks is still pretty small to add to the existing flock, especially considering she's a single bird. However, integration can be done by having her within view of the flock. Ideally, it would be best to provide a sectioned-off area of the coop and run for her, so she is roosting, eating, etc. right next to the older girls. After a couple of weeks of this, it may be helpful to partner her with the most docile of the hens from the older group, so the two of them can bond in the sectioned-off area. After a week or so, try opening up the partition to let them mingle with the rest of the flock. By this time, she'll be at least 13 weeks old. Be sure to have an extra feeder and waterer, as well as hiding places where she can escape the view of the other hens.

The 10-week old chick is too old to integrate with young chicks, so I'd recommend integrating her with the older flock, rather than adding young chicks to the mix.

If you get chicks her own age, they should be under quarantine for at least 30 days in a place that is isolated from the rest of your birds. By that time, you could have integrated her with the older girls.

 

[slou]

Thank you for this advice! The sad thing is that the silkie that was also killed along with her sisters yesterday is the only hen of the older flock that was nice to the younger chicks and I didnt see any of the bigger hens yesterday that didn’t peck at her. But I will try screening off an area and putting her out there today and see what happens. She and her sisters would come inside to roost at night in a large cage in the kitchen but I do have a small coop separate from the large one inside the run outside and she could sleep out there. I was just worried she’d be extra lonely out there locked inside alone but now I’m probably just letting my sentimentality take over? I’m 8 months pregnant which doesn’t help... ; )

 

[Chickassan]

If it's night time when she's locked up she's sleeping and isn't lonely.
Hopefully that helps those preggo worries.

Thank you for this advice! The sad thing is that the silkie that was also killed along with her sisters yesterday is the only hen of the older flock that was nice to the younger chicks and I didnt see any of the bigger hens yesterday that didn’t peck at her. But I will try screening off an area and putting her out there today and see what happens. She and her sisters would come inside to roost at night in a large cage in the kitchen but I do have a small coop separate from the large one inside the run outside and she could sleep out there. I was just worried she’d be extra lonely out there locked inside alone but now I’m probably just letting my sentimentality take over? I’m 8 months pregnant which doesn’t help... ; )