Keeping 1 chicken at home ?

[brooklynbirds18]

That makes sense. When my others were in a bad mood they'd make it obvious lol.. My Ameraucana lately makes noise at the patio door so she can come in. I feel bad she's all alone when she is outside but she does carry on with her usual stuff which is a fine sign

 

[PrairieChickens]

Sounds like she's totally happy with the idea of you being her flock. In my flock of 40+ I have a few chickens who seem to prefer to forage off by themselves, and then when they want company, they'll seek it out. It seems like that's what your hen is doing with you.

 

[brooklynbirds18]

Yeah I guess she is now.. She's very accustomed to the house now and is always wanting to come in. And of we don't let her in she is verrry vocal lol that's not like of her to get loud but obviously I bring her in enough and she likes the inside environment as well. And she sleeps in my bedroom which must also help with that.

This happened this morning when she was begging to come in. We had oats and a scrabbled egg ready for her and she just got way to comfy. She shouldn't eat this at all, but it was Hilarious. Going to the store tomorrow for diaper fabric

 

[Aussie49]

I also have only 1 chicken. She has survived watching her friends get involved in road traffic accidents and has been on her own since. It has never seemed to bother her and she has laid well since. She has survived being kicked by a horse and sitting out under a bush in 2 days of torrential rain before I found her very sore and unable to move at all and loosing the sight in 1 eye, so she deserves to stay here til the end of her days. I do feel sad for her when she goes back to her little house alone at night. She is also of an age where I expect her egg production to start slowing down. I would like to get a few more chickens to boost numbers. I have read up on introducing new birds to a flock but was wondering whether introducing new birds to 1 older bird may have a different spin. Any ideas anyone? Sorry to hijack your thread brooklynbirds18 it seemed to fit in with your thread well so I put it here.

 

[Sandstorm495]

I doubt you'll have much trouble adding a few new hens\chicks to the coop if only one hen is already there. The pecking order should soon establish itself. However, that doesn't mean the older hen won't bully the younger ones at first, but after a short period of time, things should settle down.

 

[brooklynbirds18]

I also have only 1 chicken. She has survived watching her friends get involved in road traffic accidents and has been on her own since. It has never seemed to bother her and she has laid well since. She has survived being kicked by a horse and sitting out under a bush in 2 days of torrential rain before I found her very sore and unable to move at all and loosing the sight in 1 eye, so she deserves to stay here til the end of her days. I do feel sad for her when she goes back to her little house alone at night. She is also of an age where I expect her egg production to start slowing down. I would like to get a few more chickens to boost numbers. I have read up on introducing new birds to a flock but was wondering whether introducing new birds to 1 older bird may have a different spin. Any ideas anyone? Sorry to hijack your thread brooklynbirds18 it seemed to fit in with your thread well so I put it here.

Don't worry your fine
Sorry to hear about your lonely hen too. If I were you and your in a place where your allowed to have a couple of birds I would go for it and try together some friendly girls for your hen.and like what sandstorm said just let the pecking order establish itself over time, hopefully your pre-existing bird would stay close to the top.

In my situation I'm not supposed to have any but that really hasn't stopped us for the last 18 months until a jerkish neighbor called up. And we used to have 10 hens and a rooster and nobody complained then lol. My bird I'm posting about was at the bottom of the pecking order and now that she's alone I want to get her at least one friend. She was sleeping by herself but I felt way too bad. I'm going to make her a diaper today so she can come in more and I know this sounds nuts but I made her a roost for indoors and she's been in my room at night since the others left. I just put some newspaper down and she's good til about 6:30 or 7

 

[brooklynbirds18]

Made her a diaper this morning

 

[perchie.girl]

Made her a diaper this morning

Oh my goodness how adorable is that..... How did she take to putting it on?. Though I would save it for indoor times.... of course you had to do a fashion shoot in the yard....

deb

 

[brooklynbirds18]

She fussed a lot when I put it on and has been pecking on it for some time. So I fed her and she forgot about it and she seems fine with it now.

 

[PrairieChickens]

She fussed a lot when I put it on and has been pecking on it for some time. So I fed her and she forgot about it and she seems fine with it now.

My hens were the same way when I put saddles on them. At first they were like "OMG WHAT IS THIS GET IT OFF!", but within a few minutes, it was like "Oh, look, a bug!"