What to do with 1 chicken left

[malpal213]

Looking for advice/support. We are down to 2 chickens and one of them is not doing well. I’m trying to plan ahead because I know we cannot have 1 lone chicken for many reasons. My sister in law has a large flock. I’m not sure what to do.

Option 1. Give our remaining chicken to my sister in law to add to her flock.
Option 2. Ask my SIL if she would give us a few of her chickens to be with our remaining girl.
Option 3. Find a few adult hens from a local group to add to our flock (if my SIL isn’t able to help).

I’m worried about our girl getting bullied in any of these scenarios. It’s too cold to get chicks right now, right? We live in the Midwest.

Thanks for listening to my stream of consciousness.

 

[nuthatched]

Maybe we can help the poorly one, what's going on? Diet? Age?

 

[malpal213]

Maybe we can help the poorly one, what's going on? Diet? Age?

Unfortunately she has water belly/ascites we’ve taken her to the vet but there is no permanent fix.

 

[TwoCrows]

She will do better if you add birds vs rehoming her. Single birds in new homes sometimes get bullied pretty badly.

 

[kengboss21]

if u still wanna keep chickens, get her chicks or younger pullets! ofc keep an eye on her to make sure she doesnt hurt the younger ones but im sure shed love some babies of her own. When I had seperated my fully grown EE I got her a 7wk old Wyandotte friend and put them together immediately 0 fighting because they both wanted a friend.

 

[Happy hen lover]

I agree I'd go the route of younger flock mates or babies.

 

[HeritageFan]

I imagine you have already come up w a plan, but I wanted to add my 0.02$ for anyone else in a similar situation
(And I’d love to know what you decided to do!)

Craigslist and a local to you bird group (or a few) on Facebook are often great resources for finding additional birds.
You can also post and ISO (in search of) or WTB (wanted to buy) ad on either of those forums.

You can also look to see if there is an active thread here for your state, and will probably end up finding a better connection if you have someone nearby

Sorry for your losses, and I hope things have smoothed out for you and your flock!!