We have had our hens and roosters for about a year now. We also have 3 dogs. The chickens/roos have free reign in our entire backyard. So do the dogs. They always play nice and the dogs just enjoy chasing them around. My husband and I were out of town for a couple of days and my mother in law was over watching the dogs/chicks. When the chickens are out of food they will usually come hang out by the back door and let us know. My mother in law was not aware of this fact when she opened the door and my red hen wandered into our back porch. This was nothing new. She usually hangs out with us sometimes. The bad part of this story is my dog Mickey decided he was going to attack her. She didn't make it. Long story short she was raised with our Rooster Romeo. They shared a box as chicks and have been together ever since. They don't spend anytime other than her laying time apart. The next day my mother in law said he was crowing all day looking for her. She had to close them off to the side yard where their coup is and now everytime I check on him he's sleeping in the coup or he's sleeping in his hiding spot. My question is, can he be depressed? We have 2 black giants that he lives with but that doesn't seem to make a difference. Should I get another red hen for him? I just feel so bad that he's lonely now without his girlfriend. Your thoughts?? Heartbroken for Hen
AWW . My dad had a rooster once once named Gilmore. The very first hen he had was a bantam named Happy. In her younger years happy had suffered a stroke and recovered well enough to get around but never fully recovered. Gilmore was paired with happy for about a year. He protected her and fed her and was just the best rooster a hen could have. Eventually we gave him some more hens but Happy was always his favorite and he wouldn't go any where without her. The day came when Happy could live no more and she died. Gilmore was heartbroken. He too,crowed for his hen and got kind of sluggish and his feathers even lost a bit of there luster. So yes he probably is depressed and getting a new red hen might help a little. Gilmore found some more hens that reminded him of Happy and seemed to feel a little better afterwards. He never treated them as special as Happy but remained a great Rooster. Don't worry. Your guy should feel better some day.
