Will one chicken get lonely?

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC, and good luck in finding companions for your hen.

 

[Annya Bright]

. Hello and welcome!! What a blessing you are to the little lost wanderer .. you are her angel! I agree with everyone else she would do better with a couple of girlfriends yes. however, some people do keep a house chicken as a pet , you can get the chicken diapers for her so you don’t have poop all over your house and it’s probably yucky changing them… But some people do it. You did say she gets along with your cat perhaps the two of them could be buddies. It’s not the normal outdoor flocking kind of chicken life, but it’s still a wholla lotta betta than where she came from. it’s up to you

Yes I do put diaper on her when she’s hanging out indoors. At night she sleeps next to me in a double decker cage

 

[Annya Bright]

Yes I do put diaper on her when she’s hanging out indoors. At night she sleeps next to me in a double decker cage

 

[Annya Bright]

Hello and welcome to BYC!

How wonderful you rescued this sweet hen!! Chickens are flock oriented and prefer to live amongst themselves, however some can do well alone if they have company of some kind. Plenty of people here on BYC keep their lone birds as house Chickens. And yes the cat or dog can help to keep them company. If you do want to set up an outdoor coop instead, she will need some companions. Do not get a rooster unless you plan in adding 6 or 7 more hens. Good luck with her!

I thought good getting a rooster is HOW i get more hens?

 

[Annya Bright]

Welcome to BYC. It was good of you to rescue her.
Chickens prefer to be with other chickens. Do you have room for at least 3?
Do you have a picture of her?

Yes I have room for more hens- thought maybe someone might have a young

 

[Annya Bright]

Yes I have room for more hens- thought maybe someone might have a young rooster they want to give away

 

[Sahraschweiss]

As others have said, get her a couple of friends.

However, I do have a house chicken (don't recommend this--she lost an eye and the other girls won't let her back in the flock). She is friends with the 2 dogs. Since I work from home, we chatter throughout the day, and she often cuddles with the dogs. When I take a break, everyone goes outside to sniff a scratch. And when I say it's time to go back inside, she is the first one to the door. She has a tub of dirt on the porch when she needs it--she'll go to the door and peck to let me know it's dirt time. She listens better than the dogs and will answer me when I ask "where are you". I swear it sounds like "here I am". I've converted a dog create to be her indoor coup.

Chickens can be creative with what is a flock, but they need buddies. Preferably other chickens.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You can order day-old pullets from a hatchery. They will come in the mail. A pullet is a young female chicken under a year old. A young male chicken is called a cockerel. If you order "straight-run" chicks, you'll get mixed gender, or unsexed chicks and you won't know what you've got for several weeks. I don't advise this as you could be stuck with way too many cockerels and a world of troubles as they may fight and also injure your pullets. Ordering pullets is a little more expensive, but worth it. You still MIGHT end up with a cockerel but it's less likely.

You could also get chicks from a feed store, but again you could end up with more cockerels than you want or need. Cockerels have a way of ending up in bins marked "pullets."

Good luck!

 

[chrissynemetz]

I thought good getting a rooster is HOW i get more hens?

If you want to raise chicks from eggs, then yes you'll need a rooster. But you need to get a few pullets sooner than that.

 

[swampfox440]

Welcome to BYC! thanks for joining us.