I had two 8 month old hens and one died. Does the remaining hen need a friend?

[DS.952]

My 8 month old hen died unexpectedly this week, leaving behind a 8 month old Brahma hen.

To add further challenge, we're going on holidays for 5 weeks in a month's time, and we're planning to move the chicken and their house to a friend's backyard (she also has chickens. We'd keep the flocks separate.)

As first time chicken owner I'd like to ask some advice please:
- do I bother getting new chickens now, considering there's a big disruption coming up anyway, or wait until we're back home?
- will my 8 month old Brahma be okay for another 9 weeks solo? She was hand raised and is a lovely, very friendly hen.
- We'd ideally like 3-4 hens eventually but I'm not sure where to start. Should i get baby chick's when we are back home? Or get older pullets - there are usually 18 week old Isa Browns available locally.
- we only have an Omlet coop along with a garden space to free range, I don't have a second coop/big run to fence off a separate space but might have to look at other solutions to separate new birds?

Am I better off trying to get another heritage breed that will live as long as the Brahma, rather than an Isa Brown with shorter lifespan? Don't want to face to go through this every few years!

Thank you in advance

 

[Debbie292d]

My 8 month old hen died unexpectedly this week, leaving behind a 8 month old Brahma hen.

To add further challenge, we're going on holidays for 5 weeks in a month's time, and we're planning to move the chicken and their house to a friend's backyard (she also has chickens. We'd keep the flocks separate.)

As first time chicken owner I'd like to ask some advice please:
- do I bother getting new chickens now, considering there's a big disruption coming up anyway, or wait until we're back home?
- will my 8 month old Brahma be okay for another 9 weeks solo? She was hand raised and is a lovely, very friendly hen.
- We'd ideally like 3-4 hens eventually but I'm not sure where to start. Should i get baby chick's when we are back home? Or get older pullets - there are usually 18 week old Isa Browns available locally.
- we only have an Omlet coop along with a garden space to free range, I don't have a second coop/big run to fence off a separate space but might have to look at other solutions to separate new birds?

Am I better off trying to get another heritage breed that will live as long as the Brahma, rather than an Isa Brown with shorter lifespan? Don't want to face to go through this every few years!

Thank you in advance

Sorry for your loss.

Since you have a source for older Isa Browns, maybe get one or two just for her, then get yourself a few chicks of the breed you want. I would wait until you're back as they'll need your care.

She is most likely lonely and a little depressed.

Good luck!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'd wait until you get back home, for adding any newcomers.

Where in your friend's yard will she be housed? If she can see or at least hear your friend's flock that should help a bit with any loneliness issue.

Whether you get started pullets or chicks is really up to you - do you have room and time to raise chicks, or the desire to do so? The source for the started pullets, is it a clean and reputable source? Last thing you'd want to do is bring in sickly birds, especially since you mentioned you don't have the set up to do a proper biological quarantine.

 

[Penpal]

I would look for a couple of grown hens right now. When you leave, they will be a family and won't need the kind of care that chicks do.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Sounds like you'll be leaving on vacation soon. Hope you've worked out a plan for your hen. I just wanted to make another suggestion if you hadn't already thought about it - that is, to try and get at least two more hens rather than just one to replace the one you lost. That way, in the event another one dies, you won't have "lonely hen" situation again. That's all. Safe travels to you, and enjoy your holidays!

 

[DS.952]

Thanks for the help and advice. I haven't got her a friend yet and it's been almost three months. Life got really busy when we got back from vacation, and I'm stuck on how to properly quarantine new hens. I am considering trying to find a second hand Omlet Eglu cube or Go Up (for budget reasons I can't order a new one) but while I'm waiting for one to find one it's longer and longer time alone for my single hen.

I had to put her on antibiotics for runny poops after she was at my friend's place, even though she was separate for 1-2 weeks, so I definitely don't want to just bring in new birds into her omlet house and risk illness.

Any tips on integration, and setting up a quarantine for new birds?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Very good quarantine article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...nderestimated-part-of-raising-chickens.67097/

As far as integration, after quarantine you'll want an additional 1-2 weeks see but no touch period for starters. Would make most sense using the quarantine set up and just moving it next to your current bird's set up (assuming you use a set up that can be moved easily) so they can get to know each other without the risk of hurting one another.