Hen "Dolly" attacked and killed by hawk

[lucycat10]

Yesterday we found one of our two hens dead in our backyard. We believe she was attacked by a hawk. As we were removing her from the backyard we saw a redtail hawk sitting on top of a telephone pole about 20 yards away from where she was killed. The hawk has been around our house for a few weeks, and we have been keeping an eye on it. The crows had been doing a good job of chasing her away. We are so sad over about our sweet Dolly. My issue now is that we only have one hen, Loretta. Dolly and Loretta were inseparable as the would free range our backyard all day and help protect eachother. They are both Golden Comet hybrid and they were about a year old (we just got them back in May). I don't want Loretta to be alone. She thrived in the company of her companion and I believe the company gave her security. Do you think I would be able to successfully introduce a new adult hen to her (another Golden Comet)? We are still new to having chicken and would love some advice. The Golden Comets seem to be very agreeable and get along with other chickens very well. There was never any kind of fight for dominance between the two of them. Do you think I would have issues introducing another hen? Any thoughts are appreciated. Thank you.

 

[N F C]

Welcome to BYC!

Sorry for the loss of Dolly. You should get another couple of birds, just integrate them slowly. Let them see/but don't touch each other for a few weeks so they can used to one another.

Good luck to you.

 

[BonRae67]

You would do fine introducing new hens to her. They like to have friends. Sorry for your loss and good luck with the new ones

 

[the ladies mom]

We have hawk issues where we live as well. I am so sorry. The hawks are the main reason we get new ladies every other year. We have not had any problems with integration of new ladies but we raise them from chicks. Sometimes it looks like we have 2 flocks but they all get along in the coop. This year we are adding 12 to the existing 10 but 2 of those are the grandma's at the retirement community. We do not have a rooster by the way.Good luck to you!