Tips for a lonely hen?

[Oldegarlicshnapp]

I have a pet hen who I’ve been trying to keep company by setting her up with roosters. There’s been two burned through already! One had neurological issues, so he stopped eating. The second drowned yesterday.
I worry for my hen since animals are prone to some pretty bad depression. I’ve also seen how stressed she gets when she’s alone.

Is there anything I can do so that she’s not lonely without having to get another chicken?

 

[Iluveggers]

Hens are flock animals. She needs another hen.

 

[aart]

How old is she, in weeks or months?
Why would you want a male?
Better to have another female(or two).

 

[Oldegarlicshnapp]

How old is she, in weeks or months?
Why would you want a male?
Better to have another female(or two).

She’s a year and six months old. I’m often told that a hen needs a rooster to feel protected. How come it’s better to have her with hens?

 

[aart]

She’s a year and six months old. I’m often told that a hen needs a rooster to feel protected. How come it’s better to have her with hens?

Because the male may very well over-mate her.
How long have you had this bird?

 

[Oldegarlicshnapp]

Because the male may very well over-mate her.
How long have you had this bird?

I hadn’t thought of that, thank you for the info. She’s the first chicken I’ve had so I’m new to this and would love to learn more for her benefit :•)
I’ve had her since the day she’s hatched. She’s been alone for a year, then I started introducing roosters this year.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You're on the right track, it's very thoughtful of you to want to hook her up with others of her kind. But as others have said, what she really needs is a flock. Would it be possible to provide several hens for her to pal around with? Roosters generally need multiple hens to meet their needs, a single rooster could actually injure a single hen with his attentions. Good luck.

 

[PandemicChicken]

I am in a similar situation - we recently lost the rest of our flock (2 roos) to an animal attack and now our little hen is list. It's devastating because the 3 of them spent the most time together and she definitely realized she was all alone. She's super nervous going outside because she feels like no one is protecting her (even though we're watching). To make things worse, she got mites for the first time so she's been super lethargic and is itching like crazy ):

 

[Manuela]

I have a pet hen who I’ve been trying to keep company by setting her up with roosters. There’s been two burned through already! One had neurological issues, so he stopped eating. The second drowned yesterday.
I worry for my hen since animals are prone to some pretty bad depression. I’ve also seen how stressed she gets when she’s alone.

Is there anything I can do so that she’s not lonely without having to get another chicken?

Agreed with the other poster. Flock animals need a companion. A toaster is not a good option because roosters needs many hens and who'l overmate one lonely hen. You will trade one problem for a much bigger one. Ive had several small flocks over the years and even when they're are multiple birds each hen seems to pair off with another for companionship. Everyone i had an odd number of hens the odd lone hen won't do as well. Less eggs, seemingly more anxious, and ends up low in pecking order and not living as long. For this reason i never add to my flock in odd numbers always even. Ive observed that the majority of the time the hens would buddy up with another hen of similar breed or coloring. My those island red with my isa brown. My Olive Eggers that are dark with my black star link. My brahma/ polish crescent mostly white rooster gravitating towards my white hens. My grey rooster gravitating to my grey Americanas. You get the point. They seek out their own breeds it seems. Of course there are exceptions but most of the time they assimilate like this in our flocks regardless of age of birds, temperament, where i got the newbies or time of year. So if you break down and get another hen, which i strongly recommend, or lovingly add her to a flock elsewhere, just consider another similar breed. Good luck.

 

[Mrs. K]

If she has been alone for a year, adding animals to her is going to be stressful. I think if she has gotten along just fine for a year and half - no need to start worrying about it now. This is a different situation than a bird raised in an active flock, left to herself.

I think that you will have a lot of difficulty adding a bird to her. Probably a lot of fighting. I would not add a rooster. I think just let her be.

Mrs K