Hen is off following predator attack

[swampyacres]

Hi all,

We first got chickens in 2017, just four birds for our mobile coop. first few years were great and lots of fun. But 2020 has been a bad year for our flock.

A few nights ago, our mobile coop was attacked by a raccoon (we think) and we lost two of our three hens. Only one hen, Delores, escaped, and seemed to be unharmed. We found her on our front porch in the morning making distress calls.

We secured her in our shed for the day, thinking she would be to traumatized to go back to the coop for some time. Once we had cleaned up the coop and moved it closer to the house, we gave her the option of going to the shed or into her coop for water, food, shelter, to roost etc. Hoping she would slowly ease back into the coop. The first few days, she was very quiet. I let her out to free range, but she spent her days laying down close to the shrubs and trees that line the driveway. If we were out, she would follow us around everywhere, and keep very close to my husband. He was the one that found her the morning after the attack. I am thinking this seems fairly normal following the trauma of an attack, but I was also worried she was lonely and a little depressed. Chickens are social animals, they live in flocks, and prefer to stay in groups even roaming around the yard.

After discussing our options, my husband and I decided to try to introduce another younger 1 year old hen that we got from a neighbour, Ethel. We initially kept Ethel separated in a dog crate beside the mobile coop. And we keep Ethel in the dog crate in the shed at night, while Delores finds a roost in the shed. Yesterday, I started letting them out for supervised visits in the coop with the doors open and in the yard. It went about as well as I expected. Delores was very aggressive to the point of being relentless. Even though Ethel is very clearly showing submission. After about an hour, Delores started making a very loud call, for about 10 minutes. It sounded similar to the call she used to make when she couldn’t find her flock mates or some sort of distress call. In this case, maybe it was to assert dominance?

Today has been better, Delores is not quite so aggressive, but Ethel is also being quite a bit more cautious. They’ve been following each other around in the yard. But every now and then when Ethel isn’t too close, I see Delores with her tail down and her eyes closed. And a few times her neck tucked into her breast. She’s not acting like chickens normally do. She’s not terribly interested in eating or drinking or scratching around the yard. The only time she seems lively is when she goes to rush Ethel and remind her who is boss.

I’m not sure what to do anymore. I thought a companion bird might help to perk her up.
Could this be depression or mental shock? Delores was never very social in the flock. She usually kept to herself when I would let them free range, while the other two hens stayed together (and before that three - one fell ill in April and never recovered. She also seemed quite bossy, and I would see her being aggressive to at least one of the other hens. I’m not quite sure if she was the alpha. When we lost the other hen in April, the pecking order shifted and I’m not too sure who landed on top.

Any advice you have would be great. I’m at a loss for what to do next.

Thanks in advance!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

She probably needs more time. She sounds extremely stressed from everything that has occurred to her. She's probably confused and frightened. Her immune system is probably stressed as well.

She should eventually accept the other bird, but it will take a good long time. Chickens bond with those they are raised with the best. I had one hen lose her only bonded friend. She stayed by herself for a couple of years after that when out and about. They seem to form bond similar to how we form bonds.