Lonely chicken...what to do?

[Matoe25]

We are brand new to chickens (just five days) and the day we got our first two hens, something got one of them. The first day, they both came out of the coop and were happy in the run. Since then, the lone hen will not come out of her coop. We are worried that she is not eating or drinking. I have read so many places that you shouldn't put food or water in the coop, but we are desperate. We have four chicks, but they won't be big enough to join her for months. Do we give her food and water in the coop? Do we make her come out? Should we get her a companion? Basically...HELP!!! Thank you for any advice that you can give. We really want to do this right.

 

[birdofhermes]

bring her in the house and treat her like a dog or a member of the family. sounds like she needs some love

 

[featheredplanets]

In my opinion, at 6 weeks, you can start integrating the chicks into her coop/run. The bigger the group of chicks, the better. You’d integrate them like any other chicken, I like this article:https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-i-integrated-my-chickens-in-2-weeks.73370/
Then when you release them, give them some safe spots in the run, places they can get but she can’t.
If she’s hungry, she’ll come out for food, but you could put some treats in there to coax her out.
You could get her a friend but usually this has its own issues, if you wanted to get her adult friends, I’d get 2/3 younger pullets, buddy her up with one then integrate the rest. The first thing is to make sure your setup can handle all of them.
Sorry about your hens friend. It’s sad to lose one.

 

[TomZilla43]

Hello Matoe and . Very sorry to hear of your loss but glad you could join us. I certainly hope you're able to find a suitable solution for your lonely chook issue. There are lots of friendly knowledgeable folks here willing to share solid advice and encouragement

 

[CCUK]

I think you would probably be OK to get a couple of pullets to put in with her. I don't know how your setup is but is it entirely predator proof? Do you know what got your other hen? Give your hen some nice treats to entice her out. They like mealworms! Don't over do it though. She may not feel safe so try to be with her when you can. She will settle but definitely needs company. Sooner rather than later.

 

[aart]

We are brand new to chickens (just five days) and the day we got our first two hens, something got one of them. The first day, they both came out of the coop and were happy in the run. Since then, the lone hen will not come out of her coop. We are worried that she is not eating or drinking. I have read so many places that you shouldn't put food or water in the coop, but we are desperate. We have four chicks, but they won't be big enough to join her for months. Do we give her food and water in the coop? Do we make her come out? Should we get her a companion? Basically...HELP!!! Thank you for any advice that you can give. We really want to do this right.

Welcome to BYC...sorry for your rough start
Were you able to figure out how the pred got the one and fix the issue?
Put the food and water in the coop.
How big is your coop, can you section off part for the chicks??
This is how I integrate chicks:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/

 

[Mrs. K]

I agree with the idea of adding the chicks now, they vastly out number her, they will irritate her, but that will get her out of herself. She will come out into the run, just to defend her territory. Make sure that your run is not just two dimensional, a big flat floor, but rather have a platform, that birds can get under and on top of, a roost, a pallet leaned against a wall. Add a feed station out of sight of the other one, and put them all together.

It will liven up the old one, the younger ones have places to escape too, and with so many, she can't chase them all. It will work.

Mrs K