Lost one of 4 hens almost a week ago

[Lunam96]

Do hens mourn? Can it cause them to slow in egg laying? I lost a hen on Sept 17, and 2 of my girls were almost calling for her and looking... my one girl who was setting has let one of her eggs cool completely as well. She was the closest to Crue-henna devil (one who passed)

 

[azygous]

Of course chickens experience upset over the loss of a flock mate, and it's even more pronounced if they were also brooder mates and knew each other from the very beginning. It can affect egg laying because a death in the flock will shake up the social order and that produces stress.

If you are in the northern hemisphere, and if your chickens are due for fall molting, that's another stress factor that can affect egg laying.

 

[musikfan]

Sorry for your loss. I lost three chickens in a span of about 3 weeks last spring -due to a weasel or something that was getting into my coop until I boarded up the spaces. My poor buff was all alone until I got two more - my Barred Rock and Lavender Orp. Then of course I just recently added Penny, my Baltimore. Now we're back in business! But that one buff was the queen for a short amount of time. But she definitely acted sad. But at the same time it gave me a chance to love on her and spoil her a bit with all that attention. She ended up being the low chicken on the pole when I brought the other two in (who had already been together). Now the buff is loving the fact that she's no longer at the bottom of the crew. She's been feeling her "authority" with the new Baltimore.