Hen trying to escape

[nittenno]

I have an older buff orphington hen _Pearl_ that is trying to escape since i recently re-homed her nest mates (I had aquired 6 silkies and did not have enough room1) The silkies are with her - they have fenced in yard and share a coop, and I also have a young black sex link (will be her size) I feel horrible that she is upset - she did not even seem to like the other chickens when she lived with them sleeping away from them. Will she bond with the silkies?

 

[TwoCrows]

She will adjust eventually. Birds can form bonds with each other and become good pals. I recently had to take one of my girls to the vet and her best friend was freaked out completely all day long. She refused to eat anything, paced the fence line and screamed up a storm. Just awful. She didn't stop until I brought her friend back home and she was safely let loose in the run.

So your Orp is probably stressed that her buddies are gone. She will adapt to the others, but it may take some time. But watch all of them for a while. Frustration can lead to fighting.

 

[nittenno]

Thankyou for your advice

 

[sharol]

When my partridge rock died of laying complications last fall, her best friend, a Welsumer who had protected her from the other hens when she got sick, stopped laying for 10 months. She is finally laying again and is back to being her normal, bossy self. I think chickens form strong bonds with each other and grieve at the loss of their friends.

She will adjust eventually. Birds can form bonds with each other and become good pals. I recently had to take one of my girls to the vet and her best friend was freaked out completely all day long. She refused to eat anything, paced the fence line and screamed up a storm. Just awful. She didn't stop until I brought her friend back home and she was safely let loose in the run.

So your Orp is probably stressed that her buddies are gone. She will adapt to the others, but it may take some time. But watch all of them for a while. Frustration can lead to fighting.

 

[nittenno]

They slept in the coop together but sometime this am there must have been incident...I just extracted my 4 silkies from a bush there was a lot of feathers but no injuries...should i separate the buff orph?

 

[nittenno]

Whats funny is I just got pearl back (buff orph) 3 days a go...I was not home when the people picked up the 3 hens and my husband accidentally gave them pearl. when i got home i immediately called and drove 1 1/2 hours to retrieve her and to give them the right bird lemon (another buff orph) the silkies got along with lemon - she was the lowest on the totem pole while pearl was not top hen she was definetly near the top

 

[TwoCrows]

I would leave them all together unless you see blood or bad fighting. After the Orp gets over her anxiety of missing her buddies, she may calm down. If it starts to get brutal, definitely separate. But for now, I would see what happens. Go sit with them for a while and judge what is truly going on between them.

 

[sharol]

Was the incident chicken vs. chicken, or was there an intruder in the coop?

 

[nittenno]

They seem better this am, no fighting thus far

 

[aggiemae]

This is an interesting thread. My six chicks are 10 weeks old and they get extremely distressed if separated from each other. Today I did critter checks and the hen that was alone in the portable run was frantic (and LOUD) while I checked the next one going in.