My hen is now alone and depressed. Help?

[silverwarrior]

I had a hen and a cockerel both 4-5 months old. the cockerel got sick last week and his leg curled up. i did everything but he died today. Now the hen is alone. Maybe im just imagining things but i think she looks depressed. She doesnt eat much and stayed quite all day. I also have these two 1-2 month chicks.I keep them seperate from the the hen but i let them out to play regularly in same place. the elders and the chicks would just stay away from each other normally but today the hen(lonely) began chasing the chicks. she didnt hurt them because they were too fast but she tried to peck at them.Will she survive like this or stay depressed? Should i just eat her?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Chickens do get depressed, not every chicken but I have seen it when they lose a favorite companion. It's normal for an older chicken to chase the young ones and to give them pecks, as long as the chicks can get away they will be fine and your hen should eventually accept them as her new flock. Whether to eat her or not is your decision.

 

[realsis]

Dont eat her for goodness sake unless your really hungry. I just had a similar thing happen with my two remaining silkies. They are 5 years old. I just lost one and her companion was extremely depressed. Luckily i was brooding 11 standard size girls. I introduced them when time came to take them outside . She is no longer lonely. In fact, she is eating better now than she has in a long time!( Thank God). I was worried about the size difference her being so small but she found her place in the flock. When they roost at night they call her into the house and she sleeps in a nest on the ground by them. (Silkies dont roost). So i think if you get your girl a friend or two or even a new flock, she will be much happier. It worked great for my lonely girl.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Dont eat her for goodness sake unless your really hungry. I just had a similar thing happen with my two remaining silkies. They are 5 years old. I just lost one and her companion was extremely depressed. Luckily i was brooding 11 standard size girls. I introduced them when time came to take them outside . She is no longer lonely. In fact, she is eating better now than she has in a long time!( Thank God). I was worried about the size difference her being so small but she found her place in the flock. When they roost at night they call her into the house and she sleeps in a nest on the ground by them. (Silkies dont roost). So i think if you get your girl a friend or two or even a new flock, she will be much happier. It worked great for my lonely girl.

I agree with both these BYC members....

 

[silverwarrior]

Thank you for the replies. I will keep her. The only problem is that the younger chicks are too younger. Hen :

Chicks:

Should I wait for the chicks to grow about to her size or should I just put them together now? The problem was that she isnt eating right. All shops are going to be closed for a few days where I live (its a festival) so I won't be able to get her her favourite food: spinACH. I only have chicken feed(I think it's for laying hens but she doesn't lay yet. Though she is of age.) for her that looks like this:

So how can I try to increase her appetite.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

If possible house them in the same building but with a wire divider to keep the chicks safe and for them to get used to seeing and hearing each other, usually a week or two, than I let them mingle to see how it goes, separate if things aren't working yet at night until you feel comfortable leaving them together. I will put everyone on a non medicated grower when I have mixed ages or an All Flock. A separate bowl of oyster shells will take care of any extra calcium needs.

 

[aart]

She'll eat when she gets hungry enough....the chicks shouldn't be eating layer feed tho.
Changing the population of the flock either removal by death or addition of new birds will cause stress and a slight change in behavior as they adjust.
They usually get over it in a few days.

Good suggestions already......a door between chicks enclosure and hens enclosure that big enough for chicks but too small for hen can be a great way to integrate new chicks....or as long as they can get away and not get beaten up, they can stay right in with her.