Will loneliness and stress make a hen stop laying?

[City Chicken]

Our white rock had her flock taken out by a racoon.... she doesn't mix well with the 2 remaining birds. they are RIR and mean as snakes.
So, she is alone, lonely in fact. Besides that, she got bitten on the head. During that time she stopped laying. too much stress, and then too lonely.
We introduced her to another chicken, a white rock the other day. He's young, about 12 weeks old. she chased him around a bit, snipped at him a couple times.... but now they are tight. buddies... it only took a day in fact. just shows me how lonely she was...

i am hoping that having a friend will mean that she starts laying again. anyone have any thoughts or experience with this?
(the cockerel we introduced is ours who had been staying with my sisters flock).

 

[scooter147]

Stress will definately cause a flock/hen to stop laying for awhile.
I'm dog sitting my sons lab for a week. My hens are very stressed out by her. She does not or is allowed to chase but she sits and stares at them through the fence. This also only occurs maybe a few minutes a day. When I am not back there she has no interest.
I went from about a dozen eggs a day to two or three.

Now have you fixed the racoon problem?

 

[City Chicken]

yes, we think we have fixed the raccoon. we are also re-enforcing the chicken pen with extra wire. but i saw a fox in the yard the other day in broad day light. just sauntering across our yard. we have purchased an air rifle (we live in the city and cannot fire a gun (we don't own one anyway), so we will try to dispatch the fox as well.

 

[City Chicken]

i wanted to update this. she has begun to lay again! she and the young chicken have become friends and she has laid 2 eggs and has gone back to her old habits. it's amazing what loneliness can do...