Lost my EE hen, now I have a lone hen

[Fletch83]

Hi all, hope this is the correct section for this since it didn't really seem to apply as an emergency/diseases, etc. Sadly, I lost my EE hen yesterday afternoon. I am not sure what happened. She was fine and happy the day before, she was eating normally and free-ranging all day. She was fine that night when she went to bed and seemed normal yesterday morning when I let them out of the coop. Her egg production had slowed down a little bit in the past month or so, but, she had laid a healthy egg just a few days ago. I was at work, and my boyfriend said that she was taking longer than usual in the nesting box. He went out to check on her, she was fine, then went back out to check on her thirty minutes later and she was dead, just curled up with her eyes closed in the nesting box. I am very sad, she was a pet and I'd had her since she was a tiny baby. I am troubled that I don't know what was wrong with her.

Also unfortunate is that this means her sister is now a solo hen, and I know they don't do well on their own and need to be in a flock or at least with another companion. Has this happened to anyone else, and how did you manage the remaining hen? Did you try and integrate new hens right away? Would a hen around the same age as her work best? How long is the usual quarantine period? Thank you in advance for sharing your experience.

 

[GitaBooks]

I'm sorry about your hen.

As for why she died, I've had hens die the same way. Usually its egg binding. Egg binding seems more common in slightly older chickens, since the eggs get larger. They generally die in the nest box.

As for your line hen, I haven't ever been in that situation, but I would suggest slightly younger hens (not chicks) but slightly younger hens so the hen doesn't feel threatened. I would get a couple, but not so many she is overwhelmed. The two will help one another not get bullied.

I hope that turns out. I'm really not sure quite what to do. Good luck!

 

[Fletch83]

Thank you. She was around 4 years old, and some of her eggs did seem like they were getting larger now that you mention it. It seems like she went quickly, though, which is comforting. Thank you for the suggestion of getting slightly younger hens - that is good information for me to have! The remaining hen is also an EE and she is very sweet.