Lonely hen

[baderwoman]

We have 2 beautiful buff Orphington hens! Thelma and Louise. They have been raised together since they hatched and unfortunately Louise just passed away. Thelma seems very upset and she keeps looking around for Louise and we would like to know what we can do for her to make her happy again. We have 3 other hens and 3 little chicks. They are all together. Louise passed yesterday. Our hearts are breaking for our sweet Thelma!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Chickens are very social animals. Usually, after the death of one hen, the other chickens seem lonely and look for the chicken. However, once a couple days have passed, they quickly return to normal life. Sorry for your loss!

 

[baderwoman]

Thank you. I was wondering if i needed to find her another Louise. We are all very sad

 

[drumstick diva]

I think she just needs time to get over this. I'm sorry your hen passed ,buff Orps are such sweet birds.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC - you have some great advice already so I'll just say hello.

All the best
CT

 

[baderwoman]

Thank you!

 

[Wileycoyote]

I recently lost the third of my four Sussex hens and now have just one. After reading everything I could there seemed to be nothing that could be done for a single hen except get more hens or rehome. I don't want more hens and didn't want to rehome as she's my pet and therefore my responsibility. When her best pal Ethel died, Mammy T was clearly upset and calling for her. I decided I'd bring her into the house in the evenings and this helped but what really worked was a mirror she found which was propped up on the floor. She stared at it for ages, then attacked it, then made friends. She would sit next to her image and preen and snooze so I put another in her run and exactly same reaction, thinking it was a different hen! I've now got mirrors dotted about outside and she's doing great. I'm surprised this hasn't been recommended anywhere online but hope this helps anyone with similar problem.

 

[redsoxs]

Wow! I never would have thought about this working for a single hen. That is awesome.