poor girl - depressed?

[jmmre31]

I had 3 bantam chicks. They have lived with my full sized hens/rooster for 6 months now. I thought they were one big happy flock. I decided to get rid of the 2 bantam roos. They were re-homed last week. Now the girl just sits and look out the fence looking for the boys. She eats and drinks and looks for the boys, she does nothing else. I even have to put her in the coop at night. Poor girl! Should I try to get another bantam girl? Would that work? I feel so bad for her.

 

[jmmre31]

Any advice would be great! Just not sure what to do for her. Time? New companion?
thanks

 

[CMV]

She is missing "her" flock. If she was raised with the boys and now they are gone, she is going to miss them for a while. I have found that the closest members of a flock are the ones that are raised together. They may integrate within a larger flock, but they are still going to tend to stick to their original group. I don't know that getting a new bantam hen is going to make much difference to her. Maybe. Maybe not. The new bantam will never replace the boys she was raised with, and when adding a new bird that bird will be the lowest bird on the pecking order until/unless it can work its way up the ranks. A new bantam would probably be viewed by her as a threat to her spot in the pecking order, and she would likely treat a new bird as badly as all the other birds in the flock.

I think you should just give her some time. Chickens need to process grief like the rest of us do. She should perk up in a couple weeks.

Good luck.

 

[mandelyn]

She does need a buddy, most flocks have "cliques" within it, I only have 9 chickens, but there are 3 flocks. You'll have to try to find another hen for her, and after a quarantine for the new one (and checking her over really good for mites and lice) you'll then want to cage the existing girl with her so they bond. Even a pair would work, so that she has a roo again. Not needed, but in case all you find are pairs for sale.

 

[cobrien]

If you get her a buddy, it may backfire. They may not become good friends like you want them to. Just a word of caution. But it is worth a try!

 

[kuntrygirl]

Too bad you can't get them back for your girl (or at least one).

 

[Bird Collector]

One of my silkies got really sick and she had to come in last October in the house. In a months time she was better but depressed. So I went out and got two 3 week old bantams and put them in at night with her and in a days time she was mothering them. I kept all 3 in the house until January then moved them to the garage with heat and they made their own little pack. The don't always stick together out in the yard but in the run and in the coop at night they are always together. Willow perked up so much and was a great mother. She is completly back t normal. Good luck