Hi! We had 4 hens, got them from a friend who had 20. Over the weekend we had a barn fire and 3 died from smoke inhalation. The last one was struggling with breathing but is great now. She seems so sad now and I don't know what to do. She is inside with us for now and we plan on getting some chicks but is there something I can do to comfort her now?
Welcome to BYC I am so sorry about your fire and losses. Your surviving hen has had a lot of stress and showing depressed behavior is a fairly normal reaction to her situation for all she's been through. What you can do right now is just provide the best supportive care you can - keeping her safe, comfortably temperature, hydrated, well nourished and provide extra attention and companionship to help make up for the companionship she is now missing. Do you plan to brood the chicks with her - this is a great article that might help you come up with a way to brood them in a way that allows her to benefit from their presence as soon as they come home https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...rooder-and-start-raising-your-chicks-outdoors or you can check out this thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update which has another way of brooding htem in a way that will allow them to provide some chicken friends to her from the start vs. waiting until they are larger and introducing them now which would leave your hen all alone even longer
So sorry for your losses. That must have been extremely traumatic for you and her! Ol Grey Mare has given you some good advice. In the mean time a mirror may help prevent her from becoming too lonely when she is left on her own.
