Is it cruel to separate a pair of chickens raised together? I'm sad.

[xyresicchick]

also, when i was new to chickens i had a few roosters that i raised with hens.... when i got rid of the roosters one of the hens took it personally and she has held it against me every day since then. i will never do that again. you can tell which chickens are pals if you take the time to try to notice.

 

[gryeyes]

Well, I, too, have seen bonds between chickens. They have BFFs. Somebody else might not have seen it, but it exists. Some were brooded together, some were not.

 

[TinyLittleFarm]

Well, I just emailed the lady asking if she would be willing to wait a week and offered up the possibility of her taking both of them. I would be so sad to lose Ginger. She's so beautiful! But I really do want to do what's best for her and even if I did start another flock, I wouldn't be able to build a new home for them until summer. We just got 6 inches of snow.

xyresicchick, thanks for that article. Fascinating. It also affirms what I've seen in my own birds. We lost one to the neighbor's dog last summer and my roo stayed up wayyyy past his bedtime calling for her and looking for her. Saddest thing ever.

 

[TinyLittleFarm]

Gosh I just can't believe how torn up I am about this.

 

[ralleia]

Quote:
The closest thing I've seen to that (and it's unconfirmed), was between a couple roos who were brooded together. We'd gotten the roos to be processed into the freezer at 3-4 months, saving only one as the future father of all our chickens.

On the day, the patriarch had already been chosen, and the rest were in an oversized kennel. I'd take one one out, deliver it to DH, help out, and go for the next. The young roos would cower in the back and I'd have to grab one. When dragging out a black australorp, a Wyandotte suddenly turned and attacked me, delivering a pretty good bite to my hand. The next time I went to the cage the Wyandotte broke for the door and nearly escaped. Admiring his pluck, courage, intelligence, and loyalty to his comrade, HE ended up being "re-homed" as the patriarch, and he has been a model of chicken bravery and spunk to this day.

He might have been BFFs with the australorp. Even if he were, he got over it. And like I said, the proposed method of re-homing in the case in THIS THREAD is not permanent.

 

[TinyLittleFarm]

Quote:
No, it would be permanent. Roo goes to new home and Ginger stays with me (if I decide to split them up.) Sorry if I wasn't clear.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Agreed. Find a way to keep them both or re-home them both.

 

[ralleia]

Quote:
No, it would be permanent. Roo goes to new home and Ginger stays with me (if I decide to split them up.) Sorry if I wasn't clear.

How can that be more permanent than death? Death has only been undone on very rare occasions. EEK!

 

[TinyLittleFarm]

Well yes, death is much more permanent!

 

[nanawendy]

I saw that bond in my flock in the form of mourning a sister hen. EVERYONE was effected.
xyresicchick... great article Thank you