Is my hen grieving normally?

[Ginhay-Roper]

11 days ago one of my hens, Henrietta, passed away. After she died, another hen we have (Dot, 7/8 yrs old), who was really close to Henrietta, has been lethargic and seemingly sad. Another thing to add is we had to go on a trip the day after Henrietta died so Dot has been in the coop and we haven't been able to watch her. When we got back, we discovered she has been sleeping in the nest box and that she has mites from doing so. I treated the mites yesterday and she does seem a little better (she was on the roost this morning!). She didn't go down into the run with the other girls like she usually does though. Yesterday, she was out in the yard and would alternate between standing by our pool (Henrietta's favorite spot) and laying in the shade napping. It also sounds like she lost her voice while we were gone. Dot is a very talkative chicken and whenever she tries to say something it comes out as a honk or a squeak, not a cluck. Does anyone know if this is normal chicken grieving behavior? Is there anything we can do to cheer her up? Thanks!

 

[Fluffy Lambs]

Uh you might want to get rid of those mites! They should not be in the nesting boxes! Or any where else! I had a chicken get sad/sick and die right after its best friend for life died. Hopefully your chicken gets better. I don't know why it would have lost voice.. Unless it has sour crop or something. That's how mine died. If it does get all the green stuff out of her crop and give her some apple cider vinegar and NutriDrench if you have any. But she doesn't sound like that's what she has.. Hopefully she's just sad and gets better. Best wishes to you.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I've processed more than a few chickens from my flock. Lost a few to predation or injury. Have yet to see anything in the behaviors of the rest of the flock which might be characterized as "grieving". To the contrary, my little dinosaurs seem eager to eat cast off parts of their several minutes previously flock mate.

Suspect instead the lethargy, etc is result of the mites.

 

[Ginhay-Roper]

Uh you might want to get rid of those mites! They should not be in the nesting boxes! Or any where else! I had a chicken get sad/sick and die right after its best friend for life died. Hopefully your chicken gets better. I don't know why it would have lost voice.. Unless it has sour crop or something. That's how mine died. If it does get all the green stuff out of her crop and give her some apple cider vinegar and NutriDrench if you have any. But she doesn't sound like that's what she has.. Hopefully she's just sad and gets better. Best wishes to you.

I am treating the mites with a poultry mite spray and she is already doing better, still sad though. I'm going to give her a bath today because sleeping in the nest box has caused her to get lots of poop stuck on her feathers.