How long is a chicken’s memory span?

[Rebeccama7775]

Earlier today two of my baby chicks were attacked by a hawk. One was killed and the other only has mild injuries the survivor is a two month old bantam polish hen and I’m wondering when she will recover from the traumatic experience. We cleaned her cuts and we hope she’s going to be okay but I was wondering if she’s going to miss her companion. She’s still in shock right now but I’m not sure if she’s forgotten yet

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

I'd personally say chickens have pretty darn good memories!! It can take chickens a while to recover from traumatic experiences, especially the loss of a flock member or rooster, sometimes major events will even make hens pause on laying eggs! :0 I think she'll probably recover if she does well physically, I hope integrating her back to the flock will be easy for you!! <3 good luck!

 

[Sonya9]

Where did the attack happen? She may be very afraid to be in that location so hopefully it wasn't in their run.

Chickens have a good memory. If a predator attacks them in the henhouse it is not uncommon for the birds to avoid sleeping in it for days. My vet told me a tree crashed onto his coop during a storm and he had to move the chickens to another area as they were terrified to be anywhere near the old coop.

 

[Rebeccama7775]

My chicken recovered quite quickly, and now I know he is actually a rooster LOL. He recently started crowing. I kept him inside for about 3 days to make sure he could eat and drink easily and we started reintroducing back into the flock at that time. He was very lonely for a bit but miraculously his companion (that we thought was dead) reappeared in perfect health. I am not sure where the companion was hiding the whole time since we had checked everywhere for days but I am glad she is back. Once his companion was back, he seemed happier and even started walking again. The wounds healed after about a week. He doesn't appear to still be traumatized but I don't know for sure. For the past few months, he has been really happy and alert but now he is suffering from a hurt leg. I don't know what happened but I suspect he bruised himself getting up and down from his perch a few days ago I'm not sure if anyone has any suggestions about this but anything is appreciated.