Newly orphaned hen

[kcleghorn]

Hello! I'm new to Backyard Chickens and also to owning chickens! Back in April my husband and I purchased three baby chicks. They get along famously and seem very happy and healthy. However, now that they're about 5 months old, we've realized, much to our chagrin, that two of our girls are actually boys.

We live in Oakland, CA where we're not allowed to have roosters, so we're taking the two boys to a no-kill farm in Castro Valley in a couple of days. We then intend to introduce a new hen or two into our soon-to-be flock of one so our sole girl won't be lonely.

My question is, should we remove the roosters before or after we leave for our 3-day Labor Day vacation? My husband wants to get it over with since we're both quite sad about losing the boys, but I'm worried our orphaned girl will be very sad by herself for several days. We will have a neighbor looking in on her, but I'm worried she'll be lonely.

Am I overthinking this - will she be okay on her own for just a few days? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Katherine

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

. If it were me I would introduce new hen/ hens before you take the roosters away that way she won't be stressed on her own. It will be hard for her to be on her own when she has always had company and chickens are meant to live in flocks. Plus the roosters will have each other for company on their journey. Hope all goes well for you and good luck in the future with your chicken keeping.

 

[kcleghorn]

Quote:
Thank you so much for the advice. I think we've decided to keep everyone together until we're back in town and able to manage the situation carefully!