Helping a lonely chicken during quarantine period

[bokbokbacab]

Long story short: I started with two 15 week old chickens in a coop and run designed to house four, thinking I would add two more next year if all went well. Sadly the worst happened, and one of my two died about a week ago, at ~24 weeks of age.

The surviving pullet (a buff orpington named Fluffy) has always been a bit high strung and skittish. I know it's not good for chickens to be alone, so I went ahead and got two new Speckled Sussex pullets locally. I have had them quarantined in a large dog crate in my garden shed for about 4 days.

Fluffy seemed to be doing okay with being on her own until last night. Something spooked her--not sure if it was a cat or what, but she was doing her alarm call and wouldn't stop for a long time even when I came out and made sure there was nothing around. I checked inside, outside and around the coop. Finally she settled down enough to get in the coop for the night.

This morning she is pacing around and acting like she wants to get put of the run. She doesn't seem to be coping well and I'm not sure what I can do to help her calm down.

If the two Sussex pullets were seeming perfectly healthy I might consider taking my chances and just trying to start integration now, but one of them has developed a sneeze and is showing signs of a respiratory infection (siiiigh) so I think that's not wise!

What can I do to help my lonely chicken make it through the next few weeks while the new chickens are in quarantine (and possibly getting treated for illness)? Should I just give up on ever having healthy chickens?

 

[piminuse]

Absolutely don't give up on having healthy birds! I had a quarantine period this Summer when I brought on new birds and I'm so glad I did as the new flock ended up with coccidiosis that ended up killing one and stunting a few others. I'm glad I followed quarantine so that I didn't put my established birds in jeopardy.

If you're worried about the mental well-being of Fluffy you may want to add enrichment to her pen like treat balls, mirrors, a ladder or even a xylophone! You can use this time for bonding with her as well as spend more time sitting in the run and tossing out treats so she warms up and maybe gets over her skittishness.

It's gonna be tough, you're going to feel sorry for her, but its for a short period of her (hopefully) long and healthy life. You're doing this for her own benefit, so don't give up!

 

[bokbokbacab]

Absolutely don't give up on having healthy birds! I had a quarantine period this Summer when I brought on new birds and I'm so glad I did as the new flock ended up with coccidiosis that ended up killing one and stunting a few others. I'm glad I followed quarantine so that I didn't put my established birds in jeopardy.

If you're worried about the mental well-being of Fluffy you may want to add enrichment to her pen like treat balls, mirrors, a ladder or even a xylophone! You can use this time for bonding with her as well as spend more time sitting in the run and tossing out treats so she warms up and maybe gets over her skittishness.

It's gonna be tough, you're going to feel sorry for her, but its for a short period of her (hopefully) long and healthy life. You're doing this for her own benefit, so don't give up!

Thanks for your response! You're right that it's for her benefit. I want her to stay healthy and happy.

I was able to get a bigger dust bath in the run this morning and hung up some celery for her to peck at, and I'm trying to spend more time with her too. I'll see if I can get some other "enrichment" items in there for her as well...