Last surviving hen - can I give her to someone with only chicks?

[RachelJoy]

We are down to our final hen, a 3 year old barred rock. We are ready to get out of the chicken business (hobby) so we don't want to add to our flock.

We once took in a hen in this situation from a friend, and our flock bullied her for months before she was finally accepted by them. I do not want our hen to go through this, as she already seems so sad.

If I can find someone just starting a flock with chicks only who is willing to take one older girl, could that potentially work? It is definitely chick season around here. I don't know if there would be a risk of her injuring the young ones though. She has never been aggressive, so I hope it would be OK.

The poor girl is barely eating and not laying, and I would love to get her settled somewhere where she'll be happier as soon as possible, I just don't know where this will be.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Rachel

 

[bobbi-j]

It would definitely depend on the age of the other birds. A hen generally will not accept chicks that are not hers if she was not broody to begin with.

 

[RachelJoy]

I guess I wasn't thinking in terms of brooding, just in terms of a group that would accept her. If someone has a small flock of chicks that are just going out to the coop (around here we mostly keep them in our houses for the first few weeks or months), would this work?

 

[bobbi-j]

I wasn't necessarily thinking brooding, either, I was just thinking older chicken with chicks. Not sure how she'd react.

 

[MeepBeep]

If she is introduced to young pullets (not chicks) she and they should be OK, but that isn't to say she won't be picked on as they establish pecking order...