lonely hen

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melawrence

melawrence

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Hello all
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We are new to chicken keeping and have had a flock of 5 since Christmas. Today the new next door dog decided he wanted chicken for lunch. We lost 4 out of the 5. Our children (and us!!)are devastated!
My question is: will my lone chicken be ok by herself, or should we get more assp? When we introduce more, is there a limit in number yo not ovetwhelm her?)She was the bottom of the pecking order, and not part of the 'in-crowd'. (I think that's how she survived!! )
Help please
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tia
 
hi and welcome to BYC - sorry that its not in the best of circumstances that you have made your first post. I'm sure that you and your neighbour are not the best of friends right now!

Chickens are social animals and yes, she will benefit significantly from having other chickens around. I'd suggest that you read up on integrating new chickens (just type that into the search box) and you will find some great advice.

If you get chickens that are a little younger than your current, lone chicken, then she will be less likely to feel overwhelmed and she is likely to assume the role of alpha female. Whilst this may change over time, they will all have become familiar with each other by that time. Others may have other suggestions for you to consider, this is simply what i would do in your situation.

All the best
CT
 
Welcome to BYC
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So sorry to hear about your loss! Ditto what the above poster said. Also check out the Learning Center articles on integrating and adding new flock members. I hope your neighbours will keep their animals under control from now on...
 
Hi :welcome Tia

Glad you could join the flock but I so wish it was under better circumstances. How very sad to have lost your birds in this way :hugs I agree with CT that she will be happier with new friends. Here is a lovely article on adding new birds ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-see-but-don-t-touch-method
Have you spoken to your neighbor about keeping their dog under control now? Can you make things a bit safer for your birds just incase this dog ever got loose again? It would be awful if this happened again.

Good luck for the future :fl
 
Hello!
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Welcome to BYC and the coop! There's a lot of great peeps here! Feel free to ask lots of questions. But most of all, make yourself at home. I'm so glad you decided to join the BYC family. I look forward to seeing you around BYC. So sorry for your losses. :hugs
 
Thank you everyone!! We are looking to upgrade our coops fence, although we are on 9 acres and we let them free range! Neighbours are devastated also and now have dog muzzled. They are also getting some electric fence/zappy collar! I think after your suggestions we will introduce a few younger ones as soon as we find some.
Thank you everyone!!!
 

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