One of my hens passed away recently, and ever since that day one of my other hens stopped laying eggs.

[Hanusaur]

One of my hens, Tiny, passed away 2 weeks ago. It happened very suddenly. A hawk swooped on her. It still breaks my heart, and I got a tattoo to honor her memory.
One of my other hens, Dandelion, spent most of her time with Tiny. They were friends from chick-hood. I raised 4 together. And noticed that they hung out in groups of 2: Tiny & Dandelion, and then Daisy & Hazel.
Dandelion had laid an egg the day before Tiny passed away. Since then, her behavior has changed slightly. She acts a bit more skittish. And she has stopped laying eggs all together. Not a single egg in 2 weeks, and before she was a daily layer. Nothing else seems to be wrong with her. She eats and drinks just fine. And I’ve looked for a secret nest she might be keeping somewhere but have seen no sign of one.

Is this a direct result of the death of her buddy? Do chickens “grieve”? (obviously not the way people do, but it would be more like a sudden change in her routine, ya know, her buddy she hung out with is suddenly gone). I’m wondering if anything like this has happened to anyone else here, and I’m unsure if she will ever lay again.

Edit: added a photo of my tattoo. I just took the plastic wrap off. It’s a drawing I did of Tiny months ago when she was still with us. I always smile when I looked back at the drawing, cause she was just so sweet. So I’ve got it permanently on my ankle now.

 

[Chickengirl2671]

One of my hens, Tiny, passed away 2 weeks ago. It happened very suddenly. A hawk swooped on her. It still breaks my heart, and I got a tattoo to honor her memory.
One of my other hens, Dandelion, spent most of her time with Tiny. They were friends from chick-hood. I raised 4 together. And noticed that they hung out in groups of 2: Tiny & Dandelion, and then Daisy & Hazel.
Dandelion had laid an egg the day before Tiny passed away. Since then, her behavior has changed slightly. She acts a bit more skittish. And she has stopped laying eggs all together. Not a single egg in 2 weeks, and before she was a daily layer. Nothing else seems to be wrong with her. She eats and drinks just fine. And I’ve looked for a secret nest she might be keeping somewhere but have seen no sign of one.

Is this a direct result of the death of her buddy? Do chickens “grieve”? (obviously not the way people do, but it would be more like a sudden change in her routine, ya know, her buddy she hung out with is suddenly gone). I’m wondering if anything like this has happened to anyone else here, and I’m unsure if she will ever lay again.

I think it could be, we had two hens like that, when one got sick the other stood on top of the box the other was in and when the sick one passed away she stopped laying.

 

[The chicken nurd]

One of my hens, Tiny, passed away 2 weeks ago. It happened very suddenly. A hawk swooped on her. It still breaks my heart, and I got a tattoo to honor her memory.
One of my other hens, Dandelion, spent most of her time with Tiny. They were friends from chick-hood. I raised 4 together. And noticed that they hung out in groups of 2: Tiny & Dandelion, and then Daisy & Hazel.
Dandelion had laid an egg the day before Tiny passed away. Since then, her behavior has changed slightly. She acts a bit more skittish. And she has stopped laying eggs all together. Not a single egg in 2 weeks, and before she was a daily layer. Nothing else seems to be wrong with her. She eats and drinks just fine. And I’ve looked for a secret nest she might be keeping somewhere but have seen no sign of one.

Is this a direct result of the death of her buddy? Do chickens “grieve”? (obviously not the way people do, but it would be more like a sudden change in her routine, ya know, her buddy she hung out with is suddenly gone). I’m wondering if anything like this has happened to anyone else here, and I’m unsure if she will ever lay again.

I had a pair of hens just like that a few years ago
They would always sit together and groom each other and when I lost one of them very suddenly the other one started acting weird she stopped sleeping with the other hens and would sleep outside in the run I don’t remember if she stopped laying or not since all my hens Layed the same colored eggs then but I think she did

 

[CoconutCoffee]

I've had chickens that acted differently after a close flock mate (or chick) died. Not for long though. Was Dandelion around when Tiny was attacked? Maybe it stressed her out enough to halt egg production.

 

[Kiki]

Yes...it is possible the hawk attack stressed her.

Can we see the tattoo?

 

[TheCluckyClucker2]

Yes...it is possible the hawk attack stressed her.

Can we see the tattoo?

I would also lile to see it. I think stress may be a factor. I believe that all anumals may grieve when a loved one passes. ❤

 

[Hanusaur]

I've had chickens that acted differently after a close flock mate (or chick) died. Not for long though. Was Dandelion around when Tiny was attacked? Maybe it stressed her out enough to halt egg production.

They would’ve all been hanging out together when it happened. So they all would’ve seen it happen. My dogs alerted me to something being wrong so I hurried out to the backyard. It was too late by then, and the other 3 hens were all hiding in their coop. Dandelion is the only one who has shown any long term effects of witnessing it though.

 

[Hanusaur]

Yes...it is possible the hawk attack stressed her.

Can we see the tattoo?

I just edited my post to add a photo of it

 

[Kiki]

I just edited my post to add a photo of it

So cool!

 

[Hanusaur]

I would also lile to see it. I think stress may be a factor. I believe that all anumals may grieve when a loved one passes. ❤

Just edited my post to add a photo of the tattoo. And yeah, I agree. They may experience emotion in a different way than we do, but they certainly care deeply for one another.